Mackay spot-kick gives Caithness first Archer Shield win for seven years
Manager Tom McKenna was delighted with the way the Caithness AFA team gelled in their Archer Shield clash with Orkney at the weekend.
A penalty by Pentland United's Andy Mackay gave the county select a 1-0 victory at the Dammies.
It was the first time Caithness had won the traditional fixture since 2015 – although the shield itself, which was first contested in 1935, was conspicuous by its absence as the islanders omitted to bring it over.
McKenna was still managing Wick Academy at the time of the last Archer Shield match, in 2019, when Orkney won on penalties at Dounby. He is now in charge of Castletown in Caithness AFA Division Two and was assisted on Saturday by Gavin Henderson, Alan Sinclair and Robbie Carbry.
The team was captained by Pentland United keeper James More.
The decisive moment came in the first half when Mackay netted from the spot after James Mackintosh of High Ormlie Hotspur was fouled by the Orkney goalie.
"I thought the boys started really positively," McKenna said. "They knocked the ball around well and they played with a good pace. Everybody wanted to be involved, and they couldn't match us.
"In the first half I would say Caithness were far superior. After the goal they seemed to just take their foot off the pedal and allowed Orkney to get back into the game.
"The second half was a wee bit more scrappy. Nobody could get a foothold in the game."
McKenna and his coaches ensured that everyone in the squad got some game time.
"The guys who were subs got a good run out," he said. "They'd all given their time to be there.
"Irrespective of how the result was going, we knew we were going to utilise all the subs. I think it's only fair.
"In the last 10 or 15 minutes we could have scored three or four.
"James More made a fantastic save from a free kick but apart from that I don't think he was really tested at all.
"I said to the lads after the game, we didn't really test their keeper as much as we should have done with all the possession we had.
"At 1-0, Orkney just needed one breakaway and it's one each and it's going to go to extra time. But they saw it through and there were a lot of good individual performances.
"The lads worked tremendously hard. I thought they gelled really well.
"It's testament to the lads that they went out and performed in the manner they did."
He added: "It was a fantastic day – I really enjoyed it. I've had good feedback from all the players as well, which is encouraging."
McKenna turned out for clubs such as Rochdale, Airdrie and Stenhousemuir during his playing career as well as having a spell in South Africa’s premier league with AmaZulu. He was head of youth at Clyde before moving to Caithness.
He believes there are many good players at county league level, while acknowledging that there is a big difference between the two divisions in terms of the overall standard.
"There's a lot of very good quality there," McKenna said. "Individually I think there's a lot of very good players that could operate at a higher level.
"It's a big jump in quality from the second division to the first division. Having watched a lot of games, you can see that – the quality, the intensity, the pace of the game, it's a big, big jump from the second to the first division."
Caithness squad: James More, Sean Munro, Innes Mackintosh, Luke Manson, Aidan Reid, Ryan Sutherland, Cameron Montgomery, Andy Mackay, James Mackintosh, Ben Sinclair, Kuba Koziol. Subs: Grant Aitkenhead, Stuart Campbell, William Cannop, Lewis Shepherd, Sam Barclay, Lewis Gallacher.
- Stevie Reid managed the last Caithness team to win the Archer Shield, in Orkney seven years ago.
