Thurso thrash Bunillidh to go back top of NCL
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
North Caledonian League
Thurso 7 Bunillidh Thistle 2
Scorers - Thurso: MacKenzie (1, 73), Manson (8) Martens (14, 19), Cormack (64) Trueman (71). Bunillidh: Macdonald-Macleod (66) Gair (81)
THURSO rampaged their way back to the top of the North Caledonian League as they hammered Bunillidh Thistle at Naver.
The Vikings scored four goals in the first 19 minutes and found three more in the second half despite the Sutherlanders improving after the break.
Nigel Mackenzie opened the scoring after just 60 seconds when he used the 45mph gusts to his advantage to expertly weight his corner kick out of the reach of goalkeeper Cameron Yuill as the ball sailed into the top right corner.
Luke Manson doubled the hosts advantage in the eighth minute with his first goal for the club from a thunderous shot from 30 yards which sailed past Yuill into the net.
Trialist Jonah Martens killed off the game with two goals in the space of five minutes, the first coming when he latched on to a Manson long ball and cut inside from the left wing before firing a powerful shot past Yuill from 15 yards to make it 3-0.
Martens made it 4-0 after 19 minutes when he beat the offside trap to run on to a long ball from Shaun Forbes and managed to sidestep the goalkeeper in the box before shooting the ball into the net from 12 yards.
Thurso had to wait until midway through the second half for the fifth when Conor Cormack latched on to a cross from Mackenzie before firing into the net from a tight angle from outside the six yard box.
Bunillidh played better in the second half and deservedly pulled one back when Liam Macdonald-Macleod scored a fabulous free kick from the left wing.
But Thurso stamped their authority on the match and scored two close range goals from Conor Trueman and Mackenzie finding his second to make it 7-1.
Bunillidh grabbed another consolation nine minutes from a time with a 25 yard free kick from Paul Gair which he powered into the back of the net leaving Thurso goalkeeper Asa Sinclair no chance of stopping.
Thurso are now one point ahead of Golspie and Invergordon in the title race as the season reaches the halfway stage.
Meanwhile Halkirk United remain second from bottom in the NCL after a 3-1 defeat at Inverness Athletic.
Full NCL results and table here.
http://www.northcaleyfa.co.uk/results.php
