Post by Brian Mackay on Jan 10, 2005 21:04:22 GMT
Thurso 2 Halkirk United 0 - Report by Iain Grant
This win continues the upper hand Thurso have had over their county rivals since the Vikings joined the MSIS North Caley League six years ago.
Halkirk at least do not have long to wait for another chance to notch up their first derby victory, with the return match scheduled for Recreation Park on January 8.
To finally break their duck, they will have to offer more threat than they did in Saturday's joust at Sir Georges Park.
While the visitors did muster a handful of dangerous attacks, the 90 minutes came and went without them registering a single shot or header on target.
Encouraged by an early breakthrough from hot-shot Mark Nichol, Thurso went on dominate possession though the three points were by no means assured until Alan Murray bagged a second 13 minutes from the end.
An overnight snowfall raised doubts about whether the game would go on but these were removed thanks to a quick thaw and the efforts in the morning of an ad-hoc grounds team.
A thin crust of snow was present in some sections of the pitch, which made for heavy, energy-sapping conditions in the latter stages.
The home outfit featured the same 14 that won in Balintore the previous week.
United had three changes from the squad that defeated Bunillidh 3-0, Neil Fearns, Derek Shearer and student Sean Henstridge replacing the unavailable Keith Blair, the flu-bound Gavin Mackay and the suspended Gary Coghill.
The home side were quickly into their stride and had forced six corners within the opening 10 minutes.
They capitalised on the pressure by taking a fifth minute lead.
Lee MacDougall was quick to spot Nichol's spin-off his marker and break down the inside right channel on the edge of the box.
MacDougall's measured chip was also spot-on with Nichol surprising keeper Marc Swanson with an angled lobbed volley from eight yards which found the gap between the big keeper and his near post.
The tricky surface magnified the effect of late or mistimed tackles and referee Willie Sinclair showed commendable discretion in not booking players for fouls he deemed accidental rather than reckless.
After 11 minutes, Thurso twice came close to adding to their lead.
MacDougall, who was heavily involved in the early action, sent Nichol free down the left flank.
He found Murray whose netbound shot was blocked at the last second at the expense of a corner.
From the setpiece, the ball broke to Gavin Bremner 25 yards out whose bending shot foxed Swanson who was mightily relieved to clutch it after it came back off the base of his left post.
Halkirk came close to drawing level after 17 minutes when a long-range run down the left flank from Mark Swanson saw him blaze past Ross Sutherland and home in on goal.
The winger drifted into the box and was preparing to beat keeper Michael Gray when defender Shaun Moar saved the day for his side with a perfectly timed sliding tackle.
Halkirk were careless in possession and devoted most of their energy on defensive chores.
Keeper Swanson's confidence has been hit this season by several erratic displays
but he was not found wanting on Saturday as he regularly came to his side's rescue.
After 29 minutes, he did well to hold on to a blistering free-kick from MacDougall and then tip over a looping shot Bremner struck from wide out on the right.
Halkirk's sole response was a teasing, diagonal cross from Murray Coghill which Gray gathered at the second attempt.
The home side had a half-hearted penalty attempt rejected when Fearns and Jamie MacKenzie tangled as they challenged to get to Nichol's cross.
After 33 minutes, the village side were almost gifted an equaliser.
The perseverance of Mark Munro in chasing what looked like a lost cause was rewarded when MacDougall sought to shepherd the ball back to Gray.
Munro nipped in and was unlucky his shot which cannoned off the keeper did not deflect goalward.
Five minutes from the break, there was a close thing at the other end when a glorious move ended with Nichol's close-range effort being blocked by Swanson.
The half ended with Nichol's dissent marked by a booking.
Thurso were well ahead in the possession stakes but as long as they led by just one, there was always the chance they could be caught by a sucker punch.
After the interval, Moar's rare sortie upfield resulted in him trying his luck from 25 yards with a grounder which Swanson gathered unconvincingly.
Good play by Jamie Mackenzie after 52 minutes induced a surge down the right by Martin Baker whose crisp cutback produced a first-time effort from Nichol which was half-a-foot too high.
Four minutes later, MacDougall combined with Nichol to give Murray an opening at the back post but he screwed his effort just wide.
The game then degenerated with both sides guilty of a high quota of misplaced and aimless passes though joined-up play was becoming more difficult as
the surface deteriorated.
Halkirk duo Colin Munro and Florence were booked for rash challenges in a spell notable only for Swanson's full-length reach to keep out a MacKenzie free-kick.
Thurso stepped up the pace in the final quarter and Swanson again featured with his stop off a searing shot from Ross Sutherland from near the penalty spot after 67 minutes.
A rare attack by the visitors a minute later almost paid dividends when a fine run by the industrious Alan Farquhar saw his hanging cross met with a back-header from Henstridge which crept past the near post.
After 69 minutes, MacKenzie sparked another attack which resulted in Nichol's driven cross looking certain to be converted by Murray.
As the striker stretched to connect, Colin Munro made contact at the same time with a goal-saving lunge.
Nichol was unable to convert a half-chance before Thurso finally got their insurance goal after 77 minutes.
It was created by man-of-the-match MacKenzie whose dinked pass found Murray on the left edge of the penalty box.
His low shot was deflected by a defender past Swanson to nestle in the right corner of the net.
That effectively killed off any hopes of Halkirk getting something out of the game.
As the game fizzled out, the only remaining moment of note came in the last minute when Swanson was forced to scurry across his goal to deal with a Bremner effort.
Thurso are hoping to fix up a friendly to keep them ticking over prior to the return league match in Halkirk on January 8.
The management team was happy how the Vikings dealt both with their opponents and the difficult underfoot conditions.
Assistant manager Richard Hughes said: "The conditions were tough for both sides.
"I thought we had most of the possession and when we picked up the tempo and pace of the game, they were struggling to match us."
Halkirk manager Ian MacDonald had no complaints about the result.
He said: "It was heavy going and I thought we ran out of steam.
"We had too many players back from injury who weren't match fit and it showed."
Thurso: Gray, A. Sutherland, Moar, Warner, Baker (Forbes 68), Bremner, R. Sutherland, MacDougall (Bain 85), MacKenzie, Murray (Steven 82), Nichol.
Halkirk -- Swanson, MacGill (Shearer 75), C. Munro, Fearns, MacDonald (Florence 57), M. Coghill, Inrig, Farquhar, M. Munro, Murray, Budge (Henstridge h/t).
Ref: W. Sinclair.
There was no change at the top of the North Caley League with Alness maintaining their four point advantage over Thurso following their comfortable 5-0 derby win in Invergordon.
Balintore reclaimed fourth spot at the expense of Halkirk with a 9-2 hammering of Tain.
The other two matches on Saturday's programme fell victim to frozen pitches
This win continues the upper hand Thurso have had over their county rivals since the Vikings joined the MSIS North Caley League six years ago.
Halkirk at least do not have long to wait for another chance to notch up their first derby victory, with the return match scheduled for Recreation Park on January 8.
To finally break their duck, they will have to offer more threat than they did in Saturday's joust at Sir Georges Park.
While the visitors did muster a handful of dangerous attacks, the 90 minutes came and went without them registering a single shot or header on target.
Encouraged by an early breakthrough from hot-shot Mark Nichol, Thurso went on dominate possession though the three points were by no means assured until Alan Murray bagged a second 13 minutes from the end.
An overnight snowfall raised doubts about whether the game would go on but these were removed thanks to a quick thaw and the efforts in the morning of an ad-hoc grounds team.
A thin crust of snow was present in some sections of the pitch, which made for heavy, energy-sapping conditions in the latter stages.
The home outfit featured the same 14 that won in Balintore the previous week.
United had three changes from the squad that defeated Bunillidh 3-0, Neil Fearns, Derek Shearer and student Sean Henstridge replacing the unavailable Keith Blair, the flu-bound Gavin Mackay and the suspended Gary Coghill.
The home side were quickly into their stride and had forced six corners within the opening 10 minutes.
They capitalised on the pressure by taking a fifth minute lead.
Lee MacDougall was quick to spot Nichol's spin-off his marker and break down the inside right channel on the edge of the box.
MacDougall's measured chip was also spot-on with Nichol surprising keeper Marc Swanson with an angled lobbed volley from eight yards which found the gap between the big keeper and his near post.
The tricky surface magnified the effect of late or mistimed tackles and referee Willie Sinclair showed commendable discretion in not booking players for fouls he deemed accidental rather than reckless.
After 11 minutes, Thurso twice came close to adding to their lead.
MacDougall, who was heavily involved in the early action, sent Nichol free down the left flank.
He found Murray whose netbound shot was blocked at the last second at the expense of a corner.
From the setpiece, the ball broke to Gavin Bremner 25 yards out whose bending shot foxed Swanson who was mightily relieved to clutch it after it came back off the base of his left post.
Halkirk came close to drawing level after 17 minutes when a long-range run down the left flank from Mark Swanson saw him blaze past Ross Sutherland and home in on goal.
The winger drifted into the box and was preparing to beat keeper Michael Gray when defender Shaun Moar saved the day for his side with a perfectly timed sliding tackle.
Halkirk were careless in possession and devoted most of their energy on defensive chores.
Keeper Swanson's confidence has been hit this season by several erratic displays
but he was not found wanting on Saturday as he regularly came to his side's rescue.
After 29 minutes, he did well to hold on to a blistering free-kick from MacDougall and then tip over a looping shot Bremner struck from wide out on the right.
Halkirk's sole response was a teasing, diagonal cross from Murray Coghill which Gray gathered at the second attempt.
The home side had a half-hearted penalty attempt rejected when Fearns and Jamie MacKenzie tangled as they challenged to get to Nichol's cross.
After 33 minutes, the village side were almost gifted an equaliser.
The perseverance of Mark Munro in chasing what looked like a lost cause was rewarded when MacDougall sought to shepherd the ball back to Gray.
Munro nipped in and was unlucky his shot which cannoned off the keeper did not deflect goalward.
Five minutes from the break, there was a close thing at the other end when a glorious move ended with Nichol's close-range effort being blocked by Swanson.
The half ended with Nichol's dissent marked by a booking.
Thurso were well ahead in the possession stakes but as long as they led by just one, there was always the chance they could be caught by a sucker punch.
After the interval, Moar's rare sortie upfield resulted in him trying his luck from 25 yards with a grounder which Swanson gathered unconvincingly.
Good play by Jamie Mackenzie after 52 minutes induced a surge down the right by Martin Baker whose crisp cutback produced a first-time effort from Nichol which was half-a-foot too high.
Four minutes later, MacDougall combined with Nichol to give Murray an opening at the back post but he screwed his effort just wide.
The game then degenerated with both sides guilty of a high quota of misplaced and aimless passes though joined-up play was becoming more difficult as
the surface deteriorated.
Halkirk duo Colin Munro and Florence were booked for rash challenges in a spell notable only for Swanson's full-length reach to keep out a MacKenzie free-kick.
Thurso stepped up the pace in the final quarter and Swanson again featured with his stop off a searing shot from Ross Sutherland from near the penalty spot after 67 minutes.
A rare attack by the visitors a minute later almost paid dividends when a fine run by the industrious Alan Farquhar saw his hanging cross met with a back-header from Henstridge which crept past the near post.
After 69 minutes, MacKenzie sparked another attack which resulted in Nichol's driven cross looking certain to be converted by Murray.
As the striker stretched to connect, Colin Munro made contact at the same time with a goal-saving lunge.
Nichol was unable to convert a half-chance before Thurso finally got their insurance goal after 77 minutes.
It was created by man-of-the-match MacKenzie whose dinked pass found Murray on the left edge of the penalty box.
His low shot was deflected by a defender past Swanson to nestle in the right corner of the net.
That effectively killed off any hopes of Halkirk getting something out of the game.
As the game fizzled out, the only remaining moment of note came in the last minute when Swanson was forced to scurry across his goal to deal with a Bremner effort.
Thurso are hoping to fix up a friendly to keep them ticking over prior to the return league match in Halkirk on January 8.
The management team was happy how the Vikings dealt both with their opponents and the difficult underfoot conditions.
Assistant manager Richard Hughes said: "The conditions were tough for both sides.
"I thought we had most of the possession and when we picked up the tempo and pace of the game, they were struggling to match us."
Halkirk manager Ian MacDonald had no complaints about the result.
He said: "It was heavy going and I thought we ran out of steam.
"We had too many players back from injury who weren't match fit and it showed."
Thurso: Gray, A. Sutherland, Moar, Warner, Baker (Forbes 68), Bremner, R. Sutherland, MacDougall (Bain 85), MacKenzie, Murray (Steven 82), Nichol.
Halkirk -- Swanson, MacGill (Shearer 75), C. Munro, Fearns, MacDonald (Florence 57), M. Coghill, Inrig, Farquhar, M. Munro, Murray, Budge (Henstridge h/t).
Ref: W. Sinclair.
There was no change at the top of the North Caley League with Alness maintaining their four point advantage over Thurso following their comfortable 5-0 derby win in Invergordon.
Balintore reclaimed fourth spot at the expense of Halkirk with a 9-2 hammering of Tain.
The other two matches on Saturday's programme fell victim to frozen pitches