Post by Brian Mackay on Mar 16, 2010 18:16:33 GMT -5
Thurso 6 V Bonar Bridge 0 - report by Iain Grant
The Vikings on Saturday clinched a place in the final of the Jock Mackay Memorial Cup after brushing aside the challenge of Bonar.
Three goals in each half did for the visitors whose defensive frailties and indiscipline contributed in no small part to their downfall.
Bonar’s hopes completely foundered on the back of a bizarre off-the-pitch incident as the players were trooping in for their half-time cup of tea.
The stay indoors proved longer than expected for Bonar midfielder Mark Munro after he was shown the red card by ref Graham Elder.
Having been booked earlier, he was dismissed after the ref heard him verbally abusing a team-mate.
The visiting on-the-field contingent was further depleted when Johnny Bremner was shown a straight red for a dangerous, studs-up lunge on Stuart Sinclair.
To their credit, Bonar’s nine players battled gallantly for the 30 or so minutes remaining though by then the contest had become a dead rubber.
A late brace from Mark Nichol augmented a Lee MacDougall treble and a single from James Murray.
Thurso were quickly on the offensive with Jamie McKenzie orchestrating from midfield and debutant Kyle Ross impressing with some sparky runs and good link-ups down the right flank.
Marc Begg won his first start of the season while trialist Alan Larnach was added to a squad missing a handful of regulars.
Nichol headed narrowly wide from a pinpoint cross from MacDougall and Murray would have scored had he got any connection to Martin Sutherland’s cute chipped pass through the centre-forward channel.
Thurso threatened with a number of setpieces from both flanks but the 27th minute opener stemmed from a sweeping move from the Thurso penalty box.
Nichol found space wide out on the right with his cross, not for the first time, exposing Bonar’s inability to track runners on the far side.
MacDougall took advantage of the space he was afforded to steer the ball between keeper Andrew Maitland and his near post.
Eight minutes later, a copycat raid resulted in Sutherland’s cross being touched on by Nichol for Murray to turn it in from close range.
MacDougall again profited from Bonar’s failure to match his blindside run as he controlled Nichol’s assist before netting.
The loss of three goals in 10 minutes had Bonar reeling and the half-time debacle deepened their malaise.
After the break, Maitland did well to tip over a raking effort from Sutherland while Murray shot wide after a classic bit of wing-play from sub Larnach.
Bonar were seldom seen in attack with Caithness exile Sean Henstridge ploughing a lone furrow up front.
Henstridge did well on 59 minutes to fend off a posse of defenders before laying off to Chris Campbell who forced Michael Gray to make his first save of the afternoon.
Two minutes later, MacDougall was celebrating his hat-trick with another sharp finish from Murray’s assist.
Bonar reacted well to Bremner’s dismissal, with their new-found resistance demonstrated by Gary MacLeod’s backtracking lunge to deny Larnach when he was put clear by Ross’s through-ball.
They were however undone again eight minutes from time when Murray teed up Nichol to lash the ball past Maitland.
Three minutes later, Nichol got his second from the penalty spot after Murray was floored in the box by Chris Campbell.
Nichol missed a chance to emulate MacDougall when his last-minute run-in and shot drew a fine stop from the Bonar keeper.
Vikings manager Stevie Reid was happy enough with how the side accommodated the clutch of changes.
He said: “We had a few new guys in and we tried out a few different things.
“I thought Kyle Ross was excellent and having Stuart Sinclair back is a big boost.
Thurso – Gray, Ross, Sinclair, Steven, MacGregor (R. Sutherland 63), Begg (Larnach 50), M. Sutherland, Murray, Nichol, J. MacKenzie, MacDougall (Robertson 65). Subs (unused) – Munro and Petrie.
Bonar Bridge – Maitland, Bremner, Stewart, MacLeod, J. Campbell (Gilliland h/t), Douglas (MacDonald 16), Munro, MacCormack (Vass 73), Henstridge, C. Campbell, Fitzpatrick
Ref – Mr G. Elder.
The Vikings on Saturday clinched a place in the final of the Jock Mackay Memorial Cup after brushing aside the challenge of Bonar.
Three goals in each half did for the visitors whose defensive frailties and indiscipline contributed in no small part to their downfall.
Bonar’s hopes completely foundered on the back of a bizarre off-the-pitch incident as the players were trooping in for their half-time cup of tea.
The stay indoors proved longer than expected for Bonar midfielder Mark Munro after he was shown the red card by ref Graham Elder.
Having been booked earlier, he was dismissed after the ref heard him verbally abusing a team-mate.
The visiting on-the-field contingent was further depleted when Johnny Bremner was shown a straight red for a dangerous, studs-up lunge on Stuart Sinclair.
To their credit, Bonar’s nine players battled gallantly for the 30 or so minutes remaining though by then the contest had become a dead rubber.
A late brace from Mark Nichol augmented a Lee MacDougall treble and a single from James Murray.
Thurso were quickly on the offensive with Jamie McKenzie orchestrating from midfield and debutant Kyle Ross impressing with some sparky runs and good link-ups down the right flank.
Marc Begg won his first start of the season while trialist Alan Larnach was added to a squad missing a handful of regulars.
Nichol headed narrowly wide from a pinpoint cross from MacDougall and Murray would have scored had he got any connection to Martin Sutherland’s cute chipped pass through the centre-forward channel.
Thurso threatened with a number of setpieces from both flanks but the 27th minute opener stemmed from a sweeping move from the Thurso penalty box.
Nichol found space wide out on the right with his cross, not for the first time, exposing Bonar’s inability to track runners on the far side.
MacDougall took advantage of the space he was afforded to steer the ball between keeper Andrew Maitland and his near post.
Eight minutes later, a copycat raid resulted in Sutherland’s cross being touched on by Nichol for Murray to turn it in from close range.
MacDougall again profited from Bonar’s failure to match his blindside run as he controlled Nichol’s assist before netting.
The loss of three goals in 10 minutes had Bonar reeling and the half-time debacle deepened their malaise.
After the break, Maitland did well to tip over a raking effort from Sutherland while Murray shot wide after a classic bit of wing-play from sub Larnach.
Bonar were seldom seen in attack with Caithness exile Sean Henstridge ploughing a lone furrow up front.
Henstridge did well on 59 minutes to fend off a posse of defenders before laying off to Chris Campbell who forced Michael Gray to make his first save of the afternoon.
Two minutes later, MacDougall was celebrating his hat-trick with another sharp finish from Murray’s assist.
Bonar reacted well to Bremner’s dismissal, with their new-found resistance demonstrated by Gary MacLeod’s backtracking lunge to deny Larnach when he was put clear by Ross’s through-ball.
They were however undone again eight minutes from time when Murray teed up Nichol to lash the ball past Maitland.
Three minutes later, Nichol got his second from the penalty spot after Murray was floored in the box by Chris Campbell.
Nichol missed a chance to emulate MacDougall when his last-minute run-in and shot drew a fine stop from the Bonar keeper.
Vikings manager Stevie Reid was happy enough with how the side accommodated the clutch of changes.
He said: “We had a few new guys in and we tried out a few different things.
“I thought Kyle Ross was excellent and having Stuart Sinclair back is a big boost.
Thurso – Gray, Ross, Sinclair, Steven, MacGregor (R. Sutherland 63), Begg (Larnach 50), M. Sutherland, Murray, Nichol, J. MacKenzie, MacDougall (Robertson 65). Subs (unused) – Munro and Petrie.
Bonar Bridge – Maitland, Bremner, Stewart, MacLeod, J. Campbell (Gilliland h/t), Douglas (MacDonald 16), Munro, MacCormack (Vass 73), Henstridge, C. Campbell, Fitzpatrick
Ref – Mr G. Elder.