Victory for Caithness U16s but coach sees room for improvement
Caithness United under-16s will need to improve their decision-making in the final third, as well as their finishing, according to coach Kevin Miller.
Cory Miller got both goals in Sunday’s 2-1 victory over Inverness Athletic in SHFL Under 16 Highland in wintry weather at Naver.
Miller opened the scoring midway through the first half after Max Ross evaded his marker and whipped the ball into the box from the left.
Inverness equalised within a couple of minutes of the restart. However, Miller struck again late in the game with a composed finish after Matthew Cook dispossessed an opponent and delivered a well-weighted through ball.
Coach Miller said: “The coaches feel the lads have progressed a fair bit since we assembled the squad in August. Since then it has really been up to the boys to keep working hard and show a desire to improve by taking on board our instructions on their roles.
“In fairness, they have done quite well in the past few matches, particularly against Balloan United a couple of weeks back.
“But consistency is key to doing well in this league, and we expect a higher level of performance more regularly from the lads throughout the second half of the season.
“We were keen today to make amends for our loss to Inverness Athletic in the ‘away’ fixture at the end of August. But we didn’t get out the blocks as fast as we’d have liked, and we were sloppy in possession right through the first half.
“I felt we just didn’t show the desire we have done in recent games. Perhaps the weather played a part, as it was very cold and wintry.
“To the boys’ credit, after a word with them at half-time we did notice an improvement straight after the second half kicked off. And as the game went on, we seemed to take control.
“We hit the woodwork a couple of times, had a couple of one-on-ones with their keeper and Inverness cleared the ball off the line in the second half.
“Just as it was looking like the match would finish 1-1, after a strong interception by Matthew, Cory broke free and with defenders breathing down his neck he managed to slip the ball into the corner of the goal.”
The coach added: “Decision-making in the final third, and finishing, is something we will definitely be looking to improve on in the next couple of weeks, certainly before our next match away to Fort William on December 1.
“I’d also like to say a big thanks to Inverness for travelling up in the wintry conditions and making it a very competitive match.”
Caithness United under-14s were beaten 4-0 by Tain Juniors in a league game in Easter Ross.
Caithness coach Luke Bunch said: “A really poor opening 20 minutes saw us three down before we had even got going. However, after that the boys played a lot better, and with a bit of fortune on our side we possibly could have scored a few goals in return and made it interesting.
“I thought the boys competed well after their slow start.”
