Pentland wary of Lochinver threat
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PENTLAND United are the county’s sole survivors in the Highland Amateur Cup following their 4-1 victory over Bellmac on Saturday.
Gary Manson’s penalty set the ball rolling and further strikes from James Murray and Sean Campbell (2) booked their place in the last eight. Gussie Dey replied for Bellmac.
United will now face a trip to Sutherland side Lochinver who pulled off a shock 2-1 victory at Kirkwall Thorfinn.
The Dunnet men will be hoping to go even further – more so given their history in the competition. They lead the charts for the most wins – seven in all.
Michael Gray of Pentland United said: “We know fine that while we are a couple of victories away from the final, there is a lot of work still to be done.
“Lochinver are a very good side. They have consistently been title challengers for the Sutherland equivalent of our own league and we know we can expect a tough game.
“Put it this way – if they can go to Orkney and beat the top team on their own patch, they must have something about them.
“As for ourselves, we are absolutely delighted to have made it this far. This is the premier cup competition and we want to go as far as we can.
“We got off to a great start with the early penalty and the other goals just seemed to come at times when Bellmac looked like getting back into it. I think our third one knocked the stuffing out of them.”
Elsewhere, Staxigoe United lost out in a seven-goal thriller to Lerwick – in a match played in Orkney – but the main talking point was the unexpected playing comeback of boss Andrew Banks.
Banks’s last game before entering the dugout was three years ago but injuries and players being away on holiday saw Staxigoe’s ranks so depleted that the boss had to dust off the boots again.
Lewis Harkness gave Lerwick the lead before 15-year-old Sam Barclay equalised for Staxigoe. Paul Malloy hit a double to put the Shetlanders 3-1 up only for Darren Sheppard to pull one back for United.
Malloy completed his hat-trick but Martin Banks’s late penalty set up a barnstorming finish.
Of his comeback, Andrew said: “It had to be done. I had to name myself as our only substitute because we had six players unavailable.
“I put myself on with 30 minutes left as we were 3-1 down at that point and the game looked like it was drifting away from us.
“Then we rallied and when we got it back to 3-4, the football manager in me was wanting us to get a fourth but there was another voice dreading the thought of extra time because I was already flat out.
“The boys did well to try and retrieve the situation but Lerwick are a very good team – they would definitely be a top side if they played in our league.”
John O’Groats were knocked out in a 3-2 defeat at Maryburgh after extra time.
They were forced into an early reshuffle after an injury to centre-half Alan Davis, but they led twice through Saleem Bremner and Grant Budge.
Bremner was sent off in the last minute after picking up a second yellow card.
