Post by Brian Mackay on Nov 7, 2007 13:41:45 GMT -5
Thurso 4 Bonar Bridge 1 - report by Iain Grant
Thurso eased off after a barnstorming start to register a victory which moves them ahead of county rivals Halkirk on goal difference into second spot in the MSIS North Caley League.
Mark Nichol’s third hat-trick of the campaign had the Vikings three up and in cruise control after 18 minutes.
Bonar, still searching for their first point, had good reason to fear a real doing. But they battened down the hatches to restrict their hosts to just one more breakthrough when Nichol grabbed his fourth soon shortly after the turnaround.
The Sutherland men stuck gamely to the task and got deserved reward with a spanking goal from John Dorian right at the death.
Bonar, under manager Billy Russell, are rebuilding after returning to the league following their failure to take part last season.
Their catchment zone extends from Tain to Kinlochbervie and the emphasis of the manager has been in bringing on a crop of promising youngsters.
A glorious exception in the squad is his assistant Jim Robertson, who has made himself available for emergency bench duty.
At 56, he must be one of the most senior citizens playing at this level anywhere in the country.
The right back has seen action on half-a-dozen occasions, including one start, in the Port Services Cup win in Invergordon.
Unfortunately, particularly for the 50-somethings in the crowd, the Tain accountant -- an inveterate keep fit fanatic – remained in the dug out on Saturday.
Missing a handful of regulars, Thurso gave a start to Orkney debutant Neil MacDonald while Michel Petrie continued to feature in the new-look midfield, which also included Chris Foy and Shaun Forbes.
The Vikings gave a place on the bench to Alan Murray who made a welcome return from a debilitating shoulder injury a year ago.
Thurso forged in front on four minutes when Foy started a move which climaxed with MacDonald’s cross being swept home by Nichol from eight yards.
Ten minutes later, Nichol made it 2-0 from the penalty spot after a Bonar defender handled in the box.
Bonar were firmly on the ropes and went further behind when their defence failed to deal with a Brian Gray long throw and Nichol was left with a simple tap-in.
Thurso missed a handful of decent chances to add to their tally before the break through Bonar’s Calum MacDonald went close with a 25th snap-shot which edged just past Lee Allan’s near post.
Three minutes after the interval, Graeme Reid’s free-kick found Nichol who slipped the ball past keeper Scott Lannon.
The visitors, to their credit, kept trying to play football though their goal was to have more than a few narrow escapes before the end.
On 53 minutes, Nichol’s precise header from Kevin Miller’s free-kick found MacDonald whose low shot was marginally off- target.
The two Orcadians then combined with MacDonald’s slide-rule pass releasing Wayne Monkman on a clear path to goal.
He delayed his shot fractionally too long and Lannon was able to make the block.
Bonar were getting the occasional bit of joy going forward and defender Lewis Montgomery wasted a decent opening on the hour-mark with a weak attempt on goal.
Lannon was regularly involved and he did well to prevent Nicol adding to his tally on 62 minutes.
Monkman was again off-cue when set up by Nichol before Reid rose to head a corner from Foy inches wide of the left post.
The game was petering out when Petrie was just denied his first goal for the club in Thurso’s last attack.
Nichol’s pass to Murray saw the latter neatly shrug off his marker before bustling down the inside-left channel.
His cross picked out Petrie who clipped a shot wide of Lannon, only for Montgomery to somehow bundle the ball off the line.
Bonar’s goal came on 90 minutes when Gavin MacLean’s lay back invited a 20 yard rocket shot from Dorian which whizzed high over Allan to enter the net just under the bar.
Bonar boss Russell afterwards admitted he feared the worst after the early blitzrieg.
He said: “I was quite proud of them for how they reacted to going 3-0 down. “They kept battling away and trying to knock the ball about and it was nice to get the goal at the end.” Vikings manager Duncan Gray was happy enough with the bread-and-butter win.
“It was a pretty low-key affair,” he said. “It was effectively over after 20 minutes but to be fair to them, they never gave up and worked hard until the end.”
Thurso tomorrow entertain Golspie, who will not be short of confidence after their astounding 7-1 demolition of the hitherto unbeaten Inverness City on Saturday.
Vikings trio Nigel MacKenzie, Lee MacDougall and Martin Bain are all set to return for the SWL first round tie at Sir Georges Park.
Midfielder Willie Inrig had a late cameo appearance on Saturday but he has still to fully recover from a hamstring pull and is unlikely to be risked tomorrow.
Striker Des MacLeod is also still on the injury list while MacDonald is a doubt as a result of work commitments.
Golspie will be keen to atone for their last visit when they went down 5-0 in the Port Services Cup semi.
The cup-tie has a 2.30 p.m. kick-off.
Thurso – Allan, Gray, Reid, Miller, Sutherland (Murray 63), Forbes, Petrie, Monkman (Inrig 70), Nichol, MacDonald (Cook 77), Foy. Sub (unused ) – MacLeod.
Bonar Bridge – Lannon, G. MacLean, Montgomery, Dorian, George (Anderson 82), R. MacLean, Gunn, MacNab, Dawson, MacDonald, Lunardini. Sub (unused) – Robertson.
Ref – W. Sinclair.
Andy Keveren is giving Mark Nichol serious competition in the battle for the league’s golden boot award.
The Gairloch man banged in five for Golspie in Saturday’s rout at North Kessock.
Michael Dunnett and John Mackay also scored with, City’s Gavin Nicolson’s late strike proving scant consolation for the shell-shocked home camp.
Muir of Ord Rovers are gaining a reputation this season as the late comeback kings.
They did it again on Saturday against Invergordon who were 2-0 up after half-an-hour.
Muir got one back before the interval before having Colin MacKenzie red-carded midway through the second half.
Invergordon looked on course for their third victory but Ewan Dance levelled with 10 minutes left and then sunk a 90th minute penalty winner. In the other match, Balintore defeated Bunillidh Thistle 4-2
Halkirk’s scheduled home clash with Dornoch was called off when the Sutherland men could not raise a team to travel.
League rules mean the game will be replayed with Dornoch facing a £100 fine. Halkirk tomorrow should be at near full strength for their trip to Alness United on league business.
MSIS NORTH CALEDONIAN LEAGUE
Pl W D L F A Pts
INVERNESS CITY 10 7 2 1 38 22 23
THURSO 8 6 1 1 36 13 19
HALKIRK UNITED 8 6 1 1 30 15 19
GOLSPIE 6 5 0 1 25 11 15
BALINTORE 10 4 3 3 20 17 15
MUIR OF ORD 7 3 2 2 20 15 11
ALNESS UNITED 9 3 1 5 14 22 10
BUNILLIDH THISTLE 9 2 2 5 17 32 8
INVERGORDON 10 2 2 6 12 31 8
DORNOCH 8 1 0 7 8 23 3
BONAR BRIDGE 7 0 0 7 4 23 0
Thurso eased off after a barnstorming start to register a victory which moves them ahead of county rivals Halkirk on goal difference into second spot in the MSIS North Caley League.
Mark Nichol’s third hat-trick of the campaign had the Vikings three up and in cruise control after 18 minutes.
Bonar, still searching for their first point, had good reason to fear a real doing. But they battened down the hatches to restrict their hosts to just one more breakthrough when Nichol grabbed his fourth soon shortly after the turnaround.
The Sutherland men stuck gamely to the task and got deserved reward with a spanking goal from John Dorian right at the death.
Bonar, under manager Billy Russell, are rebuilding after returning to the league following their failure to take part last season.
Their catchment zone extends from Tain to Kinlochbervie and the emphasis of the manager has been in bringing on a crop of promising youngsters.
A glorious exception in the squad is his assistant Jim Robertson, who has made himself available for emergency bench duty.
At 56, he must be one of the most senior citizens playing at this level anywhere in the country.
The right back has seen action on half-a-dozen occasions, including one start, in the Port Services Cup win in Invergordon.
Unfortunately, particularly for the 50-somethings in the crowd, the Tain accountant -- an inveterate keep fit fanatic – remained in the dug out on Saturday.
Missing a handful of regulars, Thurso gave a start to Orkney debutant Neil MacDonald while Michel Petrie continued to feature in the new-look midfield, which also included Chris Foy and Shaun Forbes.
The Vikings gave a place on the bench to Alan Murray who made a welcome return from a debilitating shoulder injury a year ago.
Thurso forged in front on four minutes when Foy started a move which climaxed with MacDonald’s cross being swept home by Nichol from eight yards.
Ten minutes later, Nichol made it 2-0 from the penalty spot after a Bonar defender handled in the box.
Bonar were firmly on the ropes and went further behind when their defence failed to deal with a Brian Gray long throw and Nichol was left with a simple tap-in.
Thurso missed a handful of decent chances to add to their tally before the break through Bonar’s Calum MacDonald went close with a 25th snap-shot which edged just past Lee Allan’s near post.
Three minutes after the interval, Graeme Reid’s free-kick found Nichol who slipped the ball past keeper Scott Lannon.
The visitors, to their credit, kept trying to play football though their goal was to have more than a few narrow escapes before the end.
On 53 minutes, Nichol’s precise header from Kevin Miller’s free-kick found MacDonald whose low shot was marginally off- target.
The two Orcadians then combined with MacDonald’s slide-rule pass releasing Wayne Monkman on a clear path to goal.
He delayed his shot fractionally too long and Lannon was able to make the block.
Bonar were getting the occasional bit of joy going forward and defender Lewis Montgomery wasted a decent opening on the hour-mark with a weak attempt on goal.
Lannon was regularly involved and he did well to prevent Nicol adding to his tally on 62 minutes.
Monkman was again off-cue when set up by Nichol before Reid rose to head a corner from Foy inches wide of the left post.
The game was petering out when Petrie was just denied his first goal for the club in Thurso’s last attack.
Nichol’s pass to Murray saw the latter neatly shrug off his marker before bustling down the inside-left channel.
His cross picked out Petrie who clipped a shot wide of Lannon, only for Montgomery to somehow bundle the ball off the line.
Bonar’s goal came on 90 minutes when Gavin MacLean’s lay back invited a 20 yard rocket shot from Dorian which whizzed high over Allan to enter the net just under the bar.
Bonar boss Russell afterwards admitted he feared the worst after the early blitzrieg.
He said: “I was quite proud of them for how they reacted to going 3-0 down. “They kept battling away and trying to knock the ball about and it was nice to get the goal at the end.” Vikings manager Duncan Gray was happy enough with the bread-and-butter win.
“It was a pretty low-key affair,” he said. “It was effectively over after 20 minutes but to be fair to them, they never gave up and worked hard until the end.”
Thurso tomorrow entertain Golspie, who will not be short of confidence after their astounding 7-1 demolition of the hitherto unbeaten Inverness City on Saturday.
Vikings trio Nigel MacKenzie, Lee MacDougall and Martin Bain are all set to return for the SWL first round tie at Sir Georges Park.
Midfielder Willie Inrig had a late cameo appearance on Saturday but he has still to fully recover from a hamstring pull and is unlikely to be risked tomorrow.
Striker Des MacLeod is also still on the injury list while MacDonald is a doubt as a result of work commitments.
Golspie will be keen to atone for their last visit when they went down 5-0 in the Port Services Cup semi.
The cup-tie has a 2.30 p.m. kick-off.
Thurso – Allan, Gray, Reid, Miller, Sutherland (Murray 63), Forbes, Petrie, Monkman (Inrig 70), Nichol, MacDonald (Cook 77), Foy. Sub (unused ) – MacLeod.
Bonar Bridge – Lannon, G. MacLean, Montgomery, Dorian, George (Anderson 82), R. MacLean, Gunn, MacNab, Dawson, MacDonald, Lunardini. Sub (unused) – Robertson.
Ref – W. Sinclair.
Andy Keveren is giving Mark Nichol serious competition in the battle for the league’s golden boot award.
The Gairloch man banged in five for Golspie in Saturday’s rout at North Kessock.
Michael Dunnett and John Mackay also scored with, City’s Gavin Nicolson’s late strike proving scant consolation for the shell-shocked home camp.
Muir of Ord Rovers are gaining a reputation this season as the late comeback kings.
They did it again on Saturday against Invergordon who were 2-0 up after half-an-hour.
Muir got one back before the interval before having Colin MacKenzie red-carded midway through the second half.
Invergordon looked on course for their third victory but Ewan Dance levelled with 10 minutes left and then sunk a 90th minute penalty winner. In the other match, Balintore defeated Bunillidh Thistle 4-2
Halkirk’s scheduled home clash with Dornoch was called off when the Sutherland men could not raise a team to travel.
League rules mean the game will be replayed with Dornoch facing a £100 fine. Halkirk tomorrow should be at near full strength for their trip to Alness United on league business.
MSIS NORTH CALEDONIAN LEAGUE
Pl W D L F A Pts
INVERNESS CITY 10 7 2 1 38 22 23
THURSO 8 6 1 1 36 13 19
HALKIRK UNITED 8 6 1 1 30 15 19
GOLSPIE 6 5 0 1 25 11 15
BALINTORE 10 4 3 3 20 17 15
MUIR OF ORD 7 3 2 2 20 15 11
ALNESS UNITED 9 3 1 5 14 22 10
BUNILLIDH THISTLE 9 2 2 5 17 32 8
INVERGORDON 10 2 2 6 12 31 8
DORNOCH 8 1 0 7 8 23 3
BONAR BRIDGE 7 0 0 7 4 23 0