Much-improved Caithness U16s leave Strathspey opponents chasing shadows
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Owen Bain got a hat-trick as the much-improved Caithness United under-16s ran out 4-1 winners over a physical Strathspey Rovers outfit at Aviemore.
A minute's silence was observed prior to kick-off as it was Remembrance Sunday.
United opened the scoring when a speculative ball hoisted into the box by Kyran Alexander ended up in the net after poor handling by home keeper Jamie Dick. Strathspey struggled with United's passing and movement and often resorted to fouls.
Caithness doubled their lead before the end of the first third when a high ball broke to Bain 20 yards out and his powerful shot flew beyond Dick inside the keeper's left-hand post.
United were forced into a change when an overzealous challenge by a defender left Steven Esson lying on the ground in discomfort.
The visitors' third goal came from a free kick which was won by Esson’s replacement, Jayden Bremner, whose direct running brought about a foul. Bremner took the free kick 20 yards out and it led to a mêlée from which Bain tapped in from close range.
A foul on Sam Shearer led to a penalty and Bain scored from the spot to claim his third of the day.
Bremner was unlucky not to add to United's tally, almost getting on the scoresheet on three occasions.
Caithness conceded late on when Strathspey broke forward and a cross ball was stroked into the net by Gordon Archer.
Coach Steve Bain said: “The previous week we toiled against Dingwall, losing 4-1, and we were looking for a response in this game.
"Effort levels and attitude against Dingwall were poor, and we asked the boys at training to show us that they want to be playing for Caithness.
"As a bare minimum we expect the boys to turn up and give all they can for the team. We can’t afford to have players playing as individuals – we win as a team and we lose as a team.
"When the players turn up and put the effort in and work as a team, we play well. Against Strathspey we saw the effort that was sorely lacking against a ruthless Dingwall team.
"Strathspey didn’t test us much, but we still put in a lot of effort and competed with physical opponents. Strathspey were chasing shadows for most of the game."
Under-14s
The Caithness under-U14s' yo-yo season continued as they won 9-1 against Fort William in Alness on November 5 only to go down 9-0 away to a strong Balloan Thistle side at the weekend in Inverness. Scorers against Fort were Logan Kirman (4), Tyler Gordon (3), Cory Miller and Shay Coghill.
Coach Stewart Ross said: “It was definitely not our best showing against Balloan Thistle, but there were plenty of positives from the Fort William match. Yes, it’s a bit frustrating for everyone, but we need to focus on getting a consistency of performance week-on-week to enable ourselves to string some results together, and that’s exactly what we will be looking to do.”
Under-12s
Caithness U12s took part in festivals at Alness on November 5 and at Fortrose the following Saturday.
At Alness, Caithness won 3-0 against the host club with goals from Seth Bunch, Ruaridh Kean and Logan Macadie. They had goalless draws with Invergordon, Clach "A" and Tain, and lost 2-0 to Keith.
Coach Murray Coghill said: “Results perhaps don’t do the performances justice. The only disappointing all-round game was Keith where we know the boys can definitely play better, but the first four games they were excellent in terms of their play and displaying the training-ground work.
"The game against Clach was particularly pleasing as it’s always a very tough, physical game against them but the boys showed great teamwork and spirit and were unlucky not to win."
At Fortrose, there were defeats to Clach (0-2), Tain (0-1) and Avoch Rovers (0-1) and wins against Alness (2-1, Seth Bunch and Ruaridh Kean), Invergordon (1-0, Seth Bunch) and Strathspey (2-0, Ross Mackay and an own goal).
Coach Sean Moodie said: “It was another good learning curve for the squad. The team got better with every game they played.
"It was a difficult start as our first game was against arguably the toughest opponents, but they showed good character, rolled their sleeves up and worked hard. After that game we saw improvement, and the boys played some nice passing football when they could.
"With a little more luck we could have scored quite a few more goals."
