Pentland United boss calls for ‘fluency’ ahead of Colin Macleod Cup semi-final with Staxigoe
Michael Gray is appealing for more availability from his players as they prepare for tonight’s Colin Macleod Cup semi-final showdown with Staxigoe United.
The Pentland United co-manager watched his side take all three points from their top-of-the-table clash with Wick Groats on Tuesday — but despite making an unbeaten start to the season, he believes they need to do more to find consistency.
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“At the moment, I think we are still looking for a bit more fluency and momentum in our season,” he said. “It’s been a bit stop-start with player availability and that’s really led to some inconsistent performances, so it’s really the old cliché for us at the moment, of one game at a time.
“Staxigoe have a very talented squad, comparable with anything in the county for me so its clear that we’ll need to perform to a pretty high level if we want to progress to the first cup final of the season, which in itself is obviously a great incentive.
“Not that it should be — we should be challenging ourselves in every game to play to the highest level possible.”
A Sam Mackay goal proved to be the difference for the Stabbies in their Division One head-to-head with Groats on Tuesday evening.
The former Wick Academy midfielder found the net fifteen minutes into the match with a left foot drive from 25 yards after breaking clear from midfield.
Despite a “frenetic” end to the second half, United held on for the win.
Gray commented: “It was a pretty tight affair. The game ebbed and flowed both ways, and both teams had periods where they were holding the upper hand and thankfully we got the breakthrough in the first half.
“One we got to the last ten minutes, with only a single goal lead it became a little bit more nervy. Wick Groats started to gamble a bit more and it became a bit more frenetic and we needed some desperate defending rather than composed defending at times.
“But we got there. It’s a welcome three points and a clean sheet to boot as well.”
Staxigoe United manager Colin Sinclair is hoping that the semi-final opportunity could be the start of a change in fortune for his side.
A winless start to their Division One campaign was made worse by a 3-0 defeat at home to High Ormlie Hotspur on Tuesday.
He said: “We’re disappointed after Tuesday’s game. We didn’t take our chances and you can’t do that against top teams. They took their chances when it came along and that’s the difference in winning games.
“We are now looking forward to our semi final tonight, although it’s going to be an extremely tough game against Stabs out there.
“But it’s a semi-final and a good chance to make a final which we haven’t managed in a few years. We’re going to go out and give it our best shot and hopefully start to turn our season around.”
The semi-final meeting between the sides take place tonight at Ham Park with a 7pm kick off.