Post by Brian Mackay on Jan 20, 2009 20:32:07 GMT -5
Invergordon 0 Thurso 4 - report by Iain Grant
Thurso eventually prevailed with something to spare in Saturday’s MSIS North Caley League match versus a limited Invergordon side.
An early strike from Martin Sinclair suggested it would be plain sailing for the Vikings.
But a succession of squandered opportunities and inspired goalkeeping from Steven Campbell kept the tie in the balance until Lee MacDougall’s second 11 minutes from time.
Invergordon before then had threatened on a couple of occasions but the second broke their resistance and they shipped further goals to Michael Petrie and Greg Shearer.
The scoreline – a carbon copy of the result in the league tie at the Dammies – lifts Thurso into joint fourth spot though they have played several more games than their nearest rivals.
The visitors were quick to settle on a pock-marked surface and came within a whisker of taking a second minute lead.
Gavin Bremner’s insightful crossfield chip released Martin Sinclair whose first-time shot beat Campbell only to ping off the inside of the left post.
The pair were involved in the opener three minutes later with Bremner this time finding MacDougall whose prompt was controlled by Martin Sinclair before he side-footed past Campbell from six yards.
Scott Wilde had Invergordon’s first goal attempt on 10 minutes with a rising shot which just cleared the bar.
Within a minute, Wilde tried his luck with a free-kick which spun off defender Grant Steven and was kept out by an instinctive fingertip parry from keeper Asa Sinclair.
It sparked a decent 10 minute spell for Invergordon when Thurso looked decidedly uncomfortable defending a series of corners.
Robert McCormack and David Kennedy both had close-in chances which they could not direct on target.
MacDougall then shot wildly over at the other end before setting up Shearer whose heavy first touch denied him a crack at goal.
With Bremner, Willie Inrig and Michael Petrie directing traffic, Thurso regained the initiative and Campbell was regularly called into action, making good blocks to deny MacDougall and Martin Sinclair
A mistake by Stuart Sinclair almost cost his side dear three minutes from the interval with Chris Cooper’s feed to Wilde ending with a shot which was turned away by Asa Sinclair.
Thurso dominated the second half but the longer they went without adding to their tally stiffened Invergordon’s resolve.
Within a couple of minutes of the resumption, Martin Sinclair had forced a good save from Campbell before beating the keeper in a run-in but running out of angle for the finish.
Invergordon continued to pose a sporadic threat with a stinging shot from Cooper on 64 minutes fizzing just over the top.
Shearer then put Martin Sinclair clear again with the striker this time being thwarted by a rogue bobble of the ball.
The latter was to manoeuvre the ball round Campbell on two more occasions but again fail to find the target.
With anxiety levels rising, Martin Bain’s injection of pace after coming off the bench proved decisive as his run and early centre was swept in by MacDougall.
Campbell prevented MacDougall from getting a second with a brave block after the chance had been set up by Andrew Cumming.
Three minutes from time, Cumming released Petrie to steer the ball past Campbell for his second goal of the season.
After Wilde’s first booking of the game, Shearer netted his debut goal a minute from time after converting Petrie’s assist.
Thurso’s stop-start performance puzzled Thurso manager Stevie Reid. He said: “We started off really well for the first 10 minutes but were abysmal for the rest of the half. “We couldn’t hold the ball or make simple passes. “We upped it in the second half and created loads of chances. “Had we got the second goal a bit earlier, we could have won by a few more.”
Invergordon – Campbell, McCormack, Kennedy, Stone, McHendry, Murphy, Stevens (Mills 55), Ogilvie, Cooper, Wilde (McGruer 88), Legge (Mitchell 87).
Thurso – A. Sinclair, Stewart (Cumming 61), Forbes, Steven, S. Sinclair, Inrig (Gray 87), Bremner, Shearer, Petrie, M. Sinclair (Bain 78), MacDougall.
Referee – Mr M. Dalton.
Thurso eventually prevailed with something to spare in Saturday’s MSIS North Caley League match versus a limited Invergordon side.
An early strike from Martin Sinclair suggested it would be plain sailing for the Vikings.
But a succession of squandered opportunities and inspired goalkeeping from Steven Campbell kept the tie in the balance until Lee MacDougall’s second 11 minutes from time.
Invergordon before then had threatened on a couple of occasions but the second broke their resistance and they shipped further goals to Michael Petrie and Greg Shearer.
The scoreline – a carbon copy of the result in the league tie at the Dammies – lifts Thurso into joint fourth spot though they have played several more games than their nearest rivals.
The visitors were quick to settle on a pock-marked surface and came within a whisker of taking a second minute lead.
Gavin Bremner’s insightful crossfield chip released Martin Sinclair whose first-time shot beat Campbell only to ping off the inside of the left post.
The pair were involved in the opener three minutes later with Bremner this time finding MacDougall whose prompt was controlled by Martin Sinclair before he side-footed past Campbell from six yards.
Scott Wilde had Invergordon’s first goal attempt on 10 minutes with a rising shot which just cleared the bar.
Within a minute, Wilde tried his luck with a free-kick which spun off defender Grant Steven and was kept out by an instinctive fingertip parry from keeper Asa Sinclair.
It sparked a decent 10 minute spell for Invergordon when Thurso looked decidedly uncomfortable defending a series of corners.
Robert McCormack and David Kennedy both had close-in chances which they could not direct on target.
MacDougall then shot wildly over at the other end before setting up Shearer whose heavy first touch denied him a crack at goal.
With Bremner, Willie Inrig and Michael Petrie directing traffic, Thurso regained the initiative and Campbell was regularly called into action, making good blocks to deny MacDougall and Martin Sinclair
A mistake by Stuart Sinclair almost cost his side dear three minutes from the interval with Chris Cooper’s feed to Wilde ending with a shot which was turned away by Asa Sinclair.
Thurso dominated the second half but the longer they went without adding to their tally stiffened Invergordon’s resolve.
Within a couple of minutes of the resumption, Martin Sinclair had forced a good save from Campbell before beating the keeper in a run-in but running out of angle for the finish.
Invergordon continued to pose a sporadic threat with a stinging shot from Cooper on 64 minutes fizzing just over the top.
Shearer then put Martin Sinclair clear again with the striker this time being thwarted by a rogue bobble of the ball.
The latter was to manoeuvre the ball round Campbell on two more occasions but again fail to find the target.
With anxiety levels rising, Martin Bain’s injection of pace after coming off the bench proved decisive as his run and early centre was swept in by MacDougall.
Campbell prevented MacDougall from getting a second with a brave block after the chance had been set up by Andrew Cumming.
Three minutes from time, Cumming released Petrie to steer the ball past Campbell for his second goal of the season.
After Wilde’s first booking of the game, Shearer netted his debut goal a minute from time after converting Petrie’s assist.
Thurso’s stop-start performance puzzled Thurso manager Stevie Reid. He said: “We started off really well for the first 10 minutes but were abysmal for the rest of the half. “We couldn’t hold the ball or make simple passes. “We upped it in the second half and created loads of chances. “Had we got the second goal a bit earlier, we could have won by a few more.”
Invergordon – Campbell, McCormack, Kennedy, Stone, McHendry, Murphy, Stevens (Mills 55), Ogilvie, Cooper, Wilde (McGruer 88), Legge (Mitchell 87).
Thurso – A. Sinclair, Stewart (Cumming 61), Forbes, Steven, S. Sinclair, Inrig (Gray 87), Bremner, Shearer, Petrie, M. Sinclair (Bain 78), MacDougall.
Referee – Mr M. Dalton.