Pentland United 'need to show resilience' after being held by Staxigoe
Pentland United co-manager Michael Gray admitted the Stabbies hadn't done enough to earn all three points as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Staxigoe at Ham Park.
Tuesday night's result meant the reigning champions dropped to second place in Caithness AFA Division One, two points behind Wick Groats.
Staxigoe led at the break with a well-taken goal by Jack Steven. Marc Macgregor came off the bench to poke home the equaliser but the Stabbies couldn't find a winner despite having plenty of possession in the final third as the game wore on.
Gray said: "In the first half I thought we were far too pedestrian with the ball, over-elaborating with it, lacking penetration, and we certainly weren't showing the energy and desire to go and make things happen.
"In the second half we were better. I thought we had the lion's share of it, but unfortunately our shooting and our finishing wasn't to the necessary standard.
"Staxigoe are a decent team, they've got a lot of good young players there, they've got a great work ethic. You've got to earn your wins and I don't think we did enough tonight to win it.
"Option-taking at times was certainly not at the level that we would have hoped for. There was a lot of hesitation at times when we were getting into good areas and not putting the ball in.
"Ultimately that's what we paid the price for – those elements of the game when we've got into good areas and not delivered, and I don't think we made their defence or their goalkeeper work as much as we should have done."
Wick Groats opened up a two-point gap at the top of the table after their 4-1 home victory over John O'Groats. With three league games remaining, the clash of the top two at the Upper Bignold on August 8 could amount to a title decider.
Gray said: "It actually doesn't change the equation. We've got to go to Wick and win.
"That's not going to be easy, but that's where we are. We're going to have to show a little bit of resilience now for next week.
"We'll be playing Staxigoe again on the Friday [in the quarter-finals of the David Allan Shield] and we have Acks on Tuesday.
"At the end of the day we've got to win our games, but we were pretty disappointing tonight."
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Results – Caithness AFA Division One: Acks 0, Castletown 3; John O'Groats 1, Wick Groats 2; Pentland United 1, Staxigoe United 1; Wick Groats 4, John O'Groats 1; Wick Thistle 0, High Ormlie Hotspur 4.
Division Two: Keiss 4, Top Joe's 0; Lybster 20, Thurso Pentland 1; Swifts 5, Watten 0.
Steven Cup, quarter-finals: Thurso Pentland 2, Keiss 7; Top Joe's 1, Lybster 3.
Fixtures – Friday, July 21 – Caithness AFA Division One: Staxigoe United v Wick Thistle (7.30pm).
Steven Cup, semi-finals: Lybster v Watten; Swifts v Keiss (both 7.15pm).
Saturday, July 22 – Ken Green Challenge Cup: Orkney AFA v Wick Academy (Pickaquoy Centre, Kirkwall, 12.30pm).
Monday, July 24 – Caithness AFA Division One: Castletown v John O'Groats. Division Two: Thurso Pentland v Swifts; Top Joe's v Lybster (all 7.15pm).
Tuesday, July 25 – Division One: Acks v Pentland United; High Ormlie Hotspur v Wick Groats; Wick Thistle v Staxigoe United. Division Two: Watten v Keiss (all 7.15pm).
Friday, July 28 – David Allan Shield, quarter-finals: Castletown v Acks; High Ormlie Hotspur v Top Joe's; Staxigoe United v Pentland United (at Lybster); Wick Thistle v Wick Groats (all 7pm).