Post by Brian Mackay on Feb 9, 2007 13:54:33 GMT -5
Thurso 2 Invergordon 1 - report by Iain Grant
The Vikings’ outside North Caley League title hopes hung by a thread on Saturday before a late winner saw them home on Saturday.
Combined with Golspie’s 3-2 defeat away to Inverness City, the Sutherland side now need a seven point return from their three remaining matches to make certain of the championship.
The bar would be lowered were Thurso to drop points in their run-in.
The calculations would have been rendered largely redundant had Invergordon earned a point on Saturday.
Such a prospect looked unthinkable early on when their threadbare defence was time and again unpicked and keeper Steven Campbell’s came under constant threat.
The result of feckless finishing rather than inspired keeping kept his goal intact by the interval.
A draw looked entirely possible after Alan Stone’s header on 75 minutes had cancelled out Mark Nichol’s peach of a free-kick strike a minute earlier.
But Thurso’s late push paid off when Nigel Mackenzie grabbed the winner three minutes from time.
Invergordon have had a forgettable campaign but in both games against Thurso they have proved tough nuts to crack.
On a fine day, the visitors were to endure a testing opening quarter in which they could easily have been three or four goals behind.
Within two minutes, Martin Bain’s surge down the right ended with his whipped low cross finding Jamie Mackenzie lurking on the right corner of the six yard box.
He wheeled before firing a shot which was too straight to trouble Campbell.
A minute later, Jamie Mackenzie began a slick move which ended with Des MacLeod just failing to convert Lee MacDougall’s centre.
The pressure was unrelenting with Campbell smothering a close-in effort from MacLeod and Jamie MacKenzie missing the target with two decent chances in quick succession.
After being regularly left exposed by an out-of-sorts defence but largely untroubled by a misfiring attack, it was ironic that Campbell’s first real crisis came when he had to reach back to claw a high, inswinging Gavin Bremner corner over his bar.
Thurso’s defence was idle until two worrying moments midway through the half.
Keeper Asa Sinclair had to move sharply to hack clear just outside his penalty box to prevent David Kennedy meeting Scott Wilde’s incisive crossfield feed.
The keeper then did exceptionally well to get fingertips to turn over out a fiercely struck, rising 20 yarder from Wilde.
The pressure on Campbell’s goal returned on 25 minutes when MacLeod set up Nichol who wastefully side-footed past from close range.
The keeper was almost undone three minutes later when Jamie Mackenzie’s clever dink set up MacDougall whose miscued shot looped over the keeper before settling on the top of the net.
There was another scare at the other end on 31 minutes when Kevin Miller’s aberration saw his careless pass meant for fellow defender Phil Makhouli fall perfectly into the flightpath of Alan Stone.
His run to goal was clear but he took a circuitous route and his parting shot ended up going harmlessly wide.
Thurso however needed no lessons in the art of firing blanks in front of goal.
MacDougall and MacLeod were both guilty of dallying while presented with clear shooting opportunities.
Jamie Mackenzie meanwhile flashed an angled shot just wide before making Campbell at least work to block a further effort.
The keeper then did well to get his body in the way of a raking shot from Nichol.
As the half-time whistle sounded, Thurso’s frustration at the lack of reward for their domination of play mirrored Invergordon’s relief at still being on level terms.
As a rehearsal for tomorrow’s cup final, the Vikings were looking the part in defence and creative enough in the midfield and wide areas but were crucially fluffing their lines in the opposition penalty box.
A messy restart after the turnaround saw early bookings for Nichol and Wilde in what proved a largely stress-free match for the officials.
Jamie Mackenzie came dangerously close to opening the scoring with a far-post header after 54 minutes.
Nichol then shot wide before a rare foray by the visitors ended with Stuart Thompson’s volley from Stephen MacDonald’s free kick flash a metre wide.
Thompson shortly was yellow-carded for a late tackle on Nichol.
As often the case, the breakthrough came on the back of an anonymous spell. Nichol’s cracking free-kick from the edge of the D gave Campbell no chance. The celebrations had barely stilled when the visitors contrived to equalise.
Alan Stone’s power header from Wilde’s steepling cross did the damage.
This provoked a renewed effort from the home men whose league challenge at that point was in danger of disappearing without trace.
After 80 minutes, they almost regained the lead when Makhouli’s attempt from Bain’s cross was scrambled clear by Campbell.
Graeme Reid added to the bookings a minute later for grappling with Wilde.
Wilde was sent off on his last visit to Thurso on league business and Saturday proved his Groundhog Day when his encroachment of an opposition free-kick led to his second booking of the day.
Makhouli, who ended up in a forward role, was given a decent opening after good work by sub Michael Steven on 86 minutes but he was unable to find a way past Campbell.
The winner finally arrived when Bremner’s high ball into the box saw Campbell come out only to be baulked by one of his team-mates.
The loose ball was seized on by sub Nigel Mackenzie who drove it into the net from 20 yards.
Invergordon manager Graham Stewart fully acknowledged his side had ridden their luck in the first period.
"To be brutally honest, Thurso had so many clear chances they should have had the game won by half-time," said the former Wick Academy keeper.
"We were more than happy to go in at 0-0 but we then gradually came into it."
He continued: "We didn't let our heads go down when we lost the first goal and we got a cracking equaliser. We then came under a fair but of pressure but in the end I'm disappointed we lost."
Thurso manager Ross Sutherland experienced one of his more frustrating afternoons in charge.
"After the first half hour, we had missed so many chances that you could sense Invergordon starting to believe they could take something out of the game," he said. "We had been playing reasonably well but the misses started to affect our level of performance."
He ended up relieved to have secured the win which maintains the pressure on Golspie.
Sutherland added: "We're just looking for another surprise result in their remaining fixtures [against Bunillidh, Dornoch and Alness]. However, we need to keep putting the points on the board while hoping they slip up."
Thurso's outstanding games are at home to Bunillidh and Alness and away to Balintore.
Thurso – Sinclair, P.Makhouli, Miller, Reid, Inrig, Bremner, Bain, N. Mackenzie, J. Mackenzie, Nichol, MacLeod (Steven 68), MacDougall (N. Mackenzie 56). Subs (unused) – Moodie and Sutherland.
Invergordon – Campbell, Wilde, A. Stone, MacDonald, McLeod, Mitchell, Ogilvie, Kennedy, Thompson, C. Stone, Stevens. Subs (used) – McGruer, McCormack and Lamont.
Ref – Mr W. Sinclair, Canisbay.
The Vikings’ outside North Caley League title hopes hung by a thread on Saturday before a late winner saw them home on Saturday.
Combined with Golspie’s 3-2 defeat away to Inverness City, the Sutherland side now need a seven point return from their three remaining matches to make certain of the championship.
The bar would be lowered were Thurso to drop points in their run-in.
The calculations would have been rendered largely redundant had Invergordon earned a point on Saturday.
Such a prospect looked unthinkable early on when their threadbare defence was time and again unpicked and keeper Steven Campbell’s came under constant threat.
The result of feckless finishing rather than inspired keeping kept his goal intact by the interval.
A draw looked entirely possible after Alan Stone’s header on 75 minutes had cancelled out Mark Nichol’s peach of a free-kick strike a minute earlier.
But Thurso’s late push paid off when Nigel Mackenzie grabbed the winner three minutes from time.
Invergordon have had a forgettable campaign but in both games against Thurso they have proved tough nuts to crack.
On a fine day, the visitors were to endure a testing opening quarter in which they could easily have been three or four goals behind.
Within two minutes, Martin Bain’s surge down the right ended with his whipped low cross finding Jamie Mackenzie lurking on the right corner of the six yard box.
He wheeled before firing a shot which was too straight to trouble Campbell.
A minute later, Jamie Mackenzie began a slick move which ended with Des MacLeod just failing to convert Lee MacDougall’s centre.
The pressure was unrelenting with Campbell smothering a close-in effort from MacLeod and Jamie MacKenzie missing the target with two decent chances in quick succession.
After being regularly left exposed by an out-of-sorts defence but largely untroubled by a misfiring attack, it was ironic that Campbell’s first real crisis came when he had to reach back to claw a high, inswinging Gavin Bremner corner over his bar.
Thurso’s defence was idle until two worrying moments midway through the half.
Keeper Asa Sinclair had to move sharply to hack clear just outside his penalty box to prevent David Kennedy meeting Scott Wilde’s incisive crossfield feed.
The keeper then did exceptionally well to get fingertips to turn over out a fiercely struck, rising 20 yarder from Wilde.
The pressure on Campbell’s goal returned on 25 minutes when MacLeod set up Nichol who wastefully side-footed past from close range.
The keeper was almost undone three minutes later when Jamie Mackenzie’s clever dink set up MacDougall whose miscued shot looped over the keeper before settling on the top of the net.
There was another scare at the other end on 31 minutes when Kevin Miller’s aberration saw his careless pass meant for fellow defender Phil Makhouli fall perfectly into the flightpath of Alan Stone.
His run to goal was clear but he took a circuitous route and his parting shot ended up going harmlessly wide.
Thurso however needed no lessons in the art of firing blanks in front of goal.
MacDougall and MacLeod were both guilty of dallying while presented with clear shooting opportunities.
Jamie Mackenzie meanwhile flashed an angled shot just wide before making Campbell at least work to block a further effort.
The keeper then did well to get his body in the way of a raking shot from Nichol.
As the half-time whistle sounded, Thurso’s frustration at the lack of reward for their domination of play mirrored Invergordon’s relief at still being on level terms.
As a rehearsal for tomorrow’s cup final, the Vikings were looking the part in defence and creative enough in the midfield and wide areas but were crucially fluffing their lines in the opposition penalty box.
A messy restart after the turnaround saw early bookings for Nichol and Wilde in what proved a largely stress-free match for the officials.
Jamie Mackenzie came dangerously close to opening the scoring with a far-post header after 54 minutes.
Nichol then shot wide before a rare foray by the visitors ended with Stuart Thompson’s volley from Stephen MacDonald’s free kick flash a metre wide.
Thompson shortly was yellow-carded for a late tackle on Nichol.
As often the case, the breakthrough came on the back of an anonymous spell. Nichol’s cracking free-kick from the edge of the D gave Campbell no chance. The celebrations had barely stilled when the visitors contrived to equalise.
Alan Stone’s power header from Wilde’s steepling cross did the damage.
This provoked a renewed effort from the home men whose league challenge at that point was in danger of disappearing without trace.
After 80 minutes, they almost regained the lead when Makhouli’s attempt from Bain’s cross was scrambled clear by Campbell.
Graeme Reid added to the bookings a minute later for grappling with Wilde.
Wilde was sent off on his last visit to Thurso on league business and Saturday proved his Groundhog Day when his encroachment of an opposition free-kick led to his second booking of the day.
Makhouli, who ended up in a forward role, was given a decent opening after good work by sub Michael Steven on 86 minutes but he was unable to find a way past Campbell.
The winner finally arrived when Bremner’s high ball into the box saw Campbell come out only to be baulked by one of his team-mates.
The loose ball was seized on by sub Nigel Mackenzie who drove it into the net from 20 yards.
Invergordon manager Graham Stewart fully acknowledged his side had ridden their luck in the first period.
"To be brutally honest, Thurso had so many clear chances they should have had the game won by half-time," said the former Wick Academy keeper.
"We were more than happy to go in at 0-0 but we then gradually came into it."
He continued: "We didn't let our heads go down when we lost the first goal and we got a cracking equaliser. We then came under a fair but of pressure but in the end I'm disappointed we lost."
Thurso manager Ross Sutherland experienced one of his more frustrating afternoons in charge.
"After the first half hour, we had missed so many chances that you could sense Invergordon starting to believe they could take something out of the game," he said. "We had been playing reasonably well but the misses started to affect our level of performance."
He ended up relieved to have secured the win which maintains the pressure on Golspie.
Sutherland added: "We're just looking for another surprise result in their remaining fixtures [against Bunillidh, Dornoch and Alness]. However, we need to keep putting the points on the board while hoping they slip up."
Thurso's outstanding games are at home to Bunillidh and Alness and away to Balintore.
Thurso – Sinclair, P.Makhouli, Miller, Reid, Inrig, Bremner, Bain, N. Mackenzie, J. Mackenzie, Nichol, MacLeod (Steven 68), MacDougall (N. Mackenzie 56). Subs (unused) – Moodie and Sutherland.
Invergordon – Campbell, Wilde, A. Stone, MacDonald, McLeod, Mitchell, Ogilvie, Kennedy, Thompson, C. Stone, Stevens. Subs (used) – McGruer, McCormack and Lamont.
Ref – Mr W. Sinclair, Canisbay.