Vikings shake off derby blues and put Anglers to the sword
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Thurso boss Stevie Reid was relieved to finally get rid of the derby jinx tag that has haunted his team.
Goals from Sean Stewart and Conor Trueman helped the Vikings to a 2-1 North Caledonian League win against Halkirk United at Morrison Park on Wednesday night. Louis Webster netted a late consolation for the Anglers.
It was over a year since Reid's side last triumphed over Halkirk.
The win lifts Thurso up to second in the table – a marked improvement from the stuttering form from last season that saw them finish second from bottom.
And they did it the hard way with a number of key personnel missing.
Reid said: "I'm absolutely delighted to finally get a derby win against Halkirk as it has been a while.
"The boys dug in well and we had to do so with a number of players being unavailable.
"Both our centre-halves, James Maclean and Rob Maclean, were out which meant we had to draft in one of our former players to play as a trialist.
"Benn Murray was that player and, although he keeps himself fit, playing an actual match is a different level.
"He's not done that for well over a year and he was blowing hard towards the end. However, he put in a tremendous shift, all things considered.
"We had to do without Andrew Mackay and Scott Bell as well which shows how much those who were on the field dug in.
"As the boys had not played since the beginning of the month, they were a bit tired towards the end and a wee bit shaky when Halkirk were coming at us to try and get a late equaliser.
"All of them played their part but a special mention must go to Michael Petrie, who was superb – as was James Murray. Also Conor Trueman covered a lot of ground.
"Conor's appetite to chase everything and close the ball down was rewarded with the goal that he got for us. That came about from him not giving up."
Despite the win moving Thurso up to second spot, Reid is playing down talk of winning the title.
He added: "We had a big chance to make an impact when we played [leaders] Invergordon a while back and we lost.
"We're seven points behind them but, with both of us only having four games left, it will need a total collapse on Invergordon's part – and us to win our remaining games – for a title success to happen.
"Finishing second, though, would be an achievement in itself. Given the problems we've had with the pitch at the Dammies, we've not really had a real home game all season.
"When you consider that, a runners-up finish would be an excellent achievement."
