Post by Brian Mackay on Mar 14, 2007 12:19:40 GMT -5
Halkirk United 2 Thurso 2 (Thurso won 4-3 on pens) - report from Iain Grant
The Vikings squeezed through to the last four of the Football Times Cup after this tense tussle was settled by a spot-kick decider.
Following a goal-less first half, United had twice battled their way back into a tie which was high on passion and excitement, if somewhat lacking in quality.
In fairness, both sides had to contend with a fickle, blustery wind which was not conducive to flowing football.
Saturday’s fourth derby of the North Caley campaign was not lacking in full-blooded endeavour and commitment.
The exchanges occasionally went beyond the pale and several off-the-ball incidents could well have resulted in red cards.
Halkirk had the better of the opening 20 minutes, with the visitors struggling to reproduce their recent sparky form.
The hosts created the first real threat after four minutes when Michael Bremner and Colin Davidson combined to release Graham MacDonald through the inside right channel.
He fed John Farquhar whose effort from the right corner of the box could have been netbound but for an untimely deflection.
United kept the upper hand and looked set to score on 10 minutes.
Bremner and Chris Sutherland exchanges passes to set the latter through on goal.
The wide man’s would-be finish slipped inches past the left upright.
Alan Farquhar then had a header nodded over the bar by Thurso defender Kevin Miller from just in front of his goal-line.
Thurso’s only response of any note in the opening stages was a tricky centre sent over by Lee MacDougall which required a timely block from defender Alan Sinclair.
From the action arising from the ensuing corner, Nigel Mackenzie
blazed an angled volley high and wide of the target.
The second quarter saw Thurso increasingly on the offensive as they shrugged off an indifferent opening.
On the half-hour mark, Mark Nichol’s surge ended with his fierce shot appearing to make contact with Stuart Florence’s left hand on the blindside of ref David Anderson.
The contact took the fizz out of the ball and enabled keeper Shaun Henderson to make a routine gather.
The keeper then did well to make a block on the edge of his box with MacDougall’s follow-up being shepherded to safety by Alan Farquhar.
The latter lined up in his new role as sweeper at the heart of United’s defence, which was bolstered by the return of the experienced Alan Sinclair.
He and his colleagues had two further scrapes to survive before the turnaround.
After 38 minutes, Nichol’s improvised deep cross from wide out
produced a header from Jamie Mackenzie which flew just over.
Five minutes later, Phil Makhouli weaved his way past a couple of would-be tackles in the penalty box before Alan Sinclair outmuscled him to defuse the danger.
United almost took the lead with the first attack of the second half, four minutes after the resumption.
Florence – on one of his frequent scampers down the right flank – got the break of the ball to get a clear sight of goal.
His 18 yard angled effort clattered off the outside of the left post.
Three minutes later, United found themselves behind.
In a classic bit of wing play, MacDougall outflanked Florence before seeing his enticing delivery headed powerfully low past Shaun Henderson by Nichol.
The goal added extra bite to the contest with the first booking on 56 minutes recording MacDougall’s display of dissent after his foul on Sutherland.
The latter came up with United’s leveller four minutes later when he followed up to net after his first effort came back off the left upright.
The success encouraged the home side and Colin Sinclair was not far away from putting them in front with a long-range pop.
Thurso replied with a raking drive from Nichol and a fierce effort from Nigel Mackenzie, both of which required sure handling from Shaun Henderson.
While the sides were enjoying parity of possession, the bulk of the chances during this period were being manufactured by the visitors.
On 69 minutes, a corner ended with successive close-in attempts from Nichol and Jamie Mackenzie somehow scrambled off the goal-line.
Thurso went 2-1 up on 72 minutes when a wind-assisted 30 yard free-kick from Gavin Bremner blurred past Shaun Henderson.
United came back strongly and deserved their equaliser when it came eight minutes later.
Before then, both Alan Sinclair and Michael Bremner had gone close.
Alan Sinclair was cautioned for a foul on Nichol before one of Florence’s sorties paid handsome dividends.
Thurso’s defence allowed him the time and space to let fly from the edge of the box with his shot arrowing high and wide of the helpless Asa Sinclair into the net.
That rocked the Vikings and for the remainder of the game, they
were largely on the receiving end.
United did ride their luck on 87 minutes when Des MacLeod found space but failed to get enough angle on his shot to trouble Shaun Henderson.
The Thurso camp had their hearts in their mouths in the last action of normal time when Sinclair dived at the feet of the inrushing Graham MacDonald just inside the penalty box.
The midfielder was sent tumbling but ref Anderson reckoned the keeper had managed to get a hand to the ball before the contact.
Both teams tired on the heavy pitch, leading to play being stretched for the duration of the extra-time period.
The first openings fell to Thurso with sub Martin Bain and MacLeod
Having netbound efforts blocked in quick succession.
Asa Sinclair showed superb reflexes on 98 minutes in getting down to turn a fizzing shot from Gavin Henderson against the inside of his left post.
A minute later, play was pulled back after Mr Anderson was alerted by an assistant to an off-the-ball incident which led to a booking for Jamie Mackenzie.
Graeme Reid then almost netted with a header from a Gavin Bremner free-kick before a 25 yard Exocet from United sub Lee Elder
whooshed over Sinclair’s crossbar.
United remained in charge after the break with Davidson the next to try his luck from distance, with Sinclair down smartly to deny him.
After 112 minutes, Davidson had a clearer opportunity when he sprang the offside trap and romped unopposed into the box.
The midfielder was again foiled by Sinclair’s agility in narrowing the angle to make a fine block.
Play switched quickly to the other end when a quicksilver move ended with Jamie Mackenzie’s shot picking up the merest deflection to divert it narrowly past.
The shoot-out saw a perfect six out of six from Bremner, Alan Sinclair and Davidson, for United; and Willie Inrig, MacLeod and Reid, for Thurso.
First to crack was Alan Farquhar whose weak effort was smothered by Asa Sinclair.
With Thurso’s regular spot-kick taker Nichol making a tidy conversion, Gavin Henderson’s sky-rocket over the bar sealed his side’s fate.
United manager Ian MacDonald believed Thurso can count themselves fortunate to be in the last four of the competition.
“I think we just deserved to nip it,” he said.
“With the recent lack of games, I thought we might not have lasted the pace in extra-time but we dug in and created most of the chances. “I was proud of the guys for the effort they put in.”
MacDonald felt aggrieved by not getting a penalty in the death throes of normal time.
His counterpart Ross Sutherland acknowledged Thurso under-performed. “It was pretty tight overall.
“They enjoyed a good start to the game and I thought we had our best spell in the second quarter.
“We didn’t play particularly well in the second half and in the latter stages, we looked as if we were going to throw it away.”
Sutherland said his best performers were in defence, singling out Michael Steven and Kevin Miller and keeper Sinclair.
Halkirk – S. Henderson, Florence, A. Sinclair, J. Farquhar (Munro 118), A. Farquhar, Davidson, MacDonald, Sutherland (Elder 80), Bremner, C. Sinclair (G. Henderson 69), Manson.
Thurso – Sinclair, Reid, Miller, Steven, Inrig, Bremner, N. Mackenzie, J. Mackenzie, Nichol, Makhouli (MacLeod 75), MacDougall (Bain 64). Sub (unused) – Sutherland.
Ref – Mr D. Anderson, Melvich.
Thurso travel to play Inverness City in the semi-final on March 31.
The Vikings squeezed through to the last four of the Football Times Cup after this tense tussle was settled by a spot-kick decider.
Following a goal-less first half, United had twice battled their way back into a tie which was high on passion and excitement, if somewhat lacking in quality.
In fairness, both sides had to contend with a fickle, blustery wind which was not conducive to flowing football.
Saturday’s fourth derby of the North Caley campaign was not lacking in full-blooded endeavour and commitment.
The exchanges occasionally went beyond the pale and several off-the-ball incidents could well have resulted in red cards.
Halkirk had the better of the opening 20 minutes, with the visitors struggling to reproduce their recent sparky form.
The hosts created the first real threat after four minutes when Michael Bremner and Colin Davidson combined to release Graham MacDonald through the inside right channel.
He fed John Farquhar whose effort from the right corner of the box could have been netbound but for an untimely deflection.
United kept the upper hand and looked set to score on 10 minutes.
Bremner and Chris Sutherland exchanges passes to set the latter through on goal.
The wide man’s would-be finish slipped inches past the left upright.
Alan Farquhar then had a header nodded over the bar by Thurso defender Kevin Miller from just in front of his goal-line.
Thurso’s only response of any note in the opening stages was a tricky centre sent over by Lee MacDougall which required a timely block from defender Alan Sinclair.
From the action arising from the ensuing corner, Nigel Mackenzie
blazed an angled volley high and wide of the target.
The second quarter saw Thurso increasingly on the offensive as they shrugged off an indifferent opening.
On the half-hour mark, Mark Nichol’s surge ended with his fierce shot appearing to make contact with Stuart Florence’s left hand on the blindside of ref David Anderson.
The contact took the fizz out of the ball and enabled keeper Shaun Henderson to make a routine gather.
The keeper then did well to make a block on the edge of his box with MacDougall’s follow-up being shepherded to safety by Alan Farquhar.
The latter lined up in his new role as sweeper at the heart of United’s defence, which was bolstered by the return of the experienced Alan Sinclair.
He and his colleagues had two further scrapes to survive before the turnaround.
After 38 minutes, Nichol’s improvised deep cross from wide out
produced a header from Jamie Mackenzie which flew just over.
Five minutes later, Phil Makhouli weaved his way past a couple of would-be tackles in the penalty box before Alan Sinclair outmuscled him to defuse the danger.
United almost took the lead with the first attack of the second half, four minutes after the resumption.
Florence – on one of his frequent scampers down the right flank – got the break of the ball to get a clear sight of goal.
His 18 yard angled effort clattered off the outside of the left post.
Three minutes later, United found themselves behind.
In a classic bit of wing play, MacDougall outflanked Florence before seeing his enticing delivery headed powerfully low past Shaun Henderson by Nichol.
The goal added extra bite to the contest with the first booking on 56 minutes recording MacDougall’s display of dissent after his foul on Sutherland.
The latter came up with United’s leveller four minutes later when he followed up to net after his first effort came back off the left upright.
The success encouraged the home side and Colin Sinclair was not far away from putting them in front with a long-range pop.
Thurso replied with a raking drive from Nichol and a fierce effort from Nigel Mackenzie, both of which required sure handling from Shaun Henderson.
While the sides were enjoying parity of possession, the bulk of the chances during this period were being manufactured by the visitors.
On 69 minutes, a corner ended with successive close-in attempts from Nichol and Jamie Mackenzie somehow scrambled off the goal-line.
Thurso went 2-1 up on 72 minutes when a wind-assisted 30 yard free-kick from Gavin Bremner blurred past Shaun Henderson.
United came back strongly and deserved their equaliser when it came eight minutes later.
Before then, both Alan Sinclair and Michael Bremner had gone close.
Alan Sinclair was cautioned for a foul on Nichol before one of Florence’s sorties paid handsome dividends.
Thurso’s defence allowed him the time and space to let fly from the edge of the box with his shot arrowing high and wide of the helpless Asa Sinclair into the net.
That rocked the Vikings and for the remainder of the game, they
were largely on the receiving end.
United did ride their luck on 87 minutes when Des MacLeod found space but failed to get enough angle on his shot to trouble Shaun Henderson.
The Thurso camp had their hearts in their mouths in the last action of normal time when Sinclair dived at the feet of the inrushing Graham MacDonald just inside the penalty box.
The midfielder was sent tumbling but ref Anderson reckoned the keeper had managed to get a hand to the ball before the contact.
Both teams tired on the heavy pitch, leading to play being stretched for the duration of the extra-time period.
The first openings fell to Thurso with sub Martin Bain and MacLeod
Having netbound efforts blocked in quick succession.
Asa Sinclair showed superb reflexes on 98 minutes in getting down to turn a fizzing shot from Gavin Henderson against the inside of his left post.
A minute later, play was pulled back after Mr Anderson was alerted by an assistant to an off-the-ball incident which led to a booking for Jamie Mackenzie.
Graeme Reid then almost netted with a header from a Gavin Bremner free-kick before a 25 yard Exocet from United sub Lee Elder
whooshed over Sinclair’s crossbar.
United remained in charge after the break with Davidson the next to try his luck from distance, with Sinclair down smartly to deny him.
After 112 minutes, Davidson had a clearer opportunity when he sprang the offside trap and romped unopposed into the box.
The midfielder was again foiled by Sinclair’s agility in narrowing the angle to make a fine block.
Play switched quickly to the other end when a quicksilver move ended with Jamie Mackenzie’s shot picking up the merest deflection to divert it narrowly past.
The shoot-out saw a perfect six out of six from Bremner, Alan Sinclair and Davidson, for United; and Willie Inrig, MacLeod and Reid, for Thurso.
First to crack was Alan Farquhar whose weak effort was smothered by Asa Sinclair.
With Thurso’s regular spot-kick taker Nichol making a tidy conversion, Gavin Henderson’s sky-rocket over the bar sealed his side’s fate.
United manager Ian MacDonald believed Thurso can count themselves fortunate to be in the last four of the competition.
“I think we just deserved to nip it,” he said.
“With the recent lack of games, I thought we might not have lasted the pace in extra-time but we dug in and created most of the chances. “I was proud of the guys for the effort they put in.”
MacDonald felt aggrieved by not getting a penalty in the death throes of normal time.
His counterpart Ross Sutherland acknowledged Thurso under-performed. “It was pretty tight overall.
“They enjoyed a good start to the game and I thought we had our best spell in the second quarter.
“We didn’t play particularly well in the second half and in the latter stages, we looked as if we were going to throw it away.”
Sutherland said his best performers were in defence, singling out Michael Steven and Kevin Miller and keeper Sinclair.
Halkirk – S. Henderson, Florence, A. Sinclair, J. Farquhar (Munro 118), A. Farquhar, Davidson, MacDonald, Sutherland (Elder 80), Bremner, C. Sinclair (G. Henderson 69), Manson.
Thurso – Sinclair, Reid, Miller, Steven, Inrig, Bremner, N. Mackenzie, J. Mackenzie, Nichol, Makhouli (MacLeod 75), MacDougall (Bain 64). Sub (unused) – Sutherland.
Ref – Mr D. Anderson, Melvich.
Thurso travel to play Inverness City in the semi-final on March 31.