Nine-man Thurso annoyed at missing out on chance of cup run
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Thurso's hopes of a run in the North Caledonian Cup came to nothing after they had two men sent off in the first half of Saturday's tie against Clachnacuddin "A".
However, the Vikings' manager Scott Davidson was heartened by the attitude shown by his players who were visibly annoyed at missing out on the chance to go further in the competition.
Liam Bain was sent off on the half-hour mark at the Highland Football Academy in Dingwall and Michael Steven followed six minutes later, both for second bookable offences. Thurso went on to lose 4-1 as Clach booked a quarter-final spot against Alness United.
“Unfortunately, getting two guys sent off gave us an uphill battle," Davidson said. "It was poor game management from both boys.
“They were both booked early on and then a silly trip by Liam for his second yellow and then possibly dissent for Michael. It's kind of inexcusable, really.
“The frustrating thing is that with nine men in the second half I would actually say we were the better side.
“Clach would probably admit that too. I was speaking to their manager after the game and he was saying how disappointed he was with his boys in the second half. I could see it too – he was giving them quite a hard time.
“We set ourselves up as a 3-4-1 in the second half because I thought there was no sense in sitting back and just inviting the pressure on the whole time. That would have been a long 45 minutes.
“We got caught on the break for their fourth goal and then we ended up scoring a consolation goal.
“We showed glimpses in the second half of playing really good football.
“It was a good opportunity to maybe do something in the cup as the next game would have been at home to Alness.
“We trained really well on Tuesday night and I said to the boys, 'Look, that was our one opportunity to maybe get a good cup run, possibly even try and get some silverware. Now it's all about trying to build to get more points on the board.'
“Everyone was in agreement and obviously the two boys that got sent off were apologetic.
“That was a battle for 50-odd minutes with nine men that we could have really done without.
“I could see a lot of boys were annoyed after the game. I think everyone probably knew that was maybe a game we should be winning.
“It pained them, so I can take something from that too – to know that it does mean something to the boys, that we maybe let one slip.”
Clach's goals came from Struan Coli, Sean Reid-Nicol, Ryan Walker and Kai Reid, with Conor Trueman pulling one back for Thurso in stoppage time.
The Vikings, who are bottom of the North Caley table, return to league business on Saturday with a home game against seventh-placed Inverness Athletic. It will be Athletic's third journey to Caithness in just over a month, having been beaten by Halkirk United twice at Morrison Park – in the league and then the cup.
Davidson said: “We played them at the start of the season and got beaten [3-0] but we put up a decent enough performance, and that was with a light squad. Looking towards Saturday, we're going to be pretty much as strong as we can be again.
“I said it earlier in the season, you should be winning your home games.
“Hopefully it's looking good for getting on the Dammies too. A lot of our games have been on 4G pitches and a lot of boys don't like playing on them.”
Wintry conditions caused the postponement of Halkirk United's home match against Fort William, adding to the fixture backlog for Ewan McElroy's side who have played fewer games than any other team in the league.
The Anglers will be looking to make up ground on the leading pack when they travel to Bonar Bridge on Saturday. A win would lift them to fourth.
Loch Ness cranked up the pressure on North Caledonian League leaders Invergordon with a derby victory at the weekend.
The Fortrose-based outfit defeated Inverness Athletic 2-0 to move within three points of the Easter Ross side. They also have a game in hand on Invergordon.
Jake Lockett and Allan MacPhee got the goals for Loch Ness.
Invergordon progressed to the cup quarter-finals as goals by Blair Morrison and Callum Murray gave them a 2-0 victory away to St Duthus.
The other cup tie saw Golspie coming out on top in the Sutherland derby with a 4-1 win against Bonar Bridge.
Graham MacNab, Robbie Murray, Miller Mackay and Robbie Sutherland scored for Golspie, with Shadi Ali replying for Bonar.
Related story:
Results – North Caledonian League: Loch Ness 2, Inverness Athletic 0.
North Caledonian Cup, first round: Clachnacuddin "A" 4, Thurso 1; Golspie Sutherland 4, Bonar Bridge 1; St Duthus 0, Invergordon 2.
Fixtures for Saturday, February 17 – North Caledonian League: Bonar Bridge v Halkirk United (1pm); Golspie Sutherland v Fort William; Loch Ness v Invergordon; St Duthus v Orkney; Thurso v Inverness Athletic (1pm).
