Match report from Thurso 1 V Alness United 1 –Football Times Cup Second Round– Saturday 10^th April 2004 – By Iain Grant

Thurso 1 Alness United 1 (Alness won 4-2 on pens)

The fickle nature of football and the sport's enduring ability to floor teams when they are riding high manifested itself in Saturday's Football Times quarter-final at the Dammies.

The previous week, the Vikings secured an undemanding 3-0 victory at Alness to qualify for tomorrow's Morris Newton Cup final.

With the cast lists largely unaltered and the balance of play again markedly in favour of the Caithness outfit, there seemed no reason to suppose the outcome would be any different.

But Alness absorbed lengthy periods of pressure to hold out for a draw after 120 minutes before delivering the coup de grace in the penalty shoot-out.

The two goals came within 10 minutes of each other with Brian Gray firing Thurso ahead from the penalty spot after 11 minutes before Robbie MacDougall restored parity when he rose unchallenged to net from a corner.

The home side's Achilles heel was their inability to convert a string of clear shooting opportunities in the penalty box.

Young keeper Grant Robertson again distinguished himself with several cracking saves.

But on many other occasions, he could do nothing but watch in relief as chance after chance went abegging through a mixture of indecisiveness and rank poor finishing.

An early spurt by Nigel Mackenzie saw him produce the first shot of the afternoon, which whizzed over the bar.

Though they enjoyed the lion's share of possession, Thurso had a vulnerable look throughout when the visitors broke from deep.

This was evident as early as the fourth minute when cross wires between wing back Alan Sutherland and keeper Brian Mackay ended with the needless concession of a corner.

The award enabled attacker-cum-defender MacDougall to give an early sign of his menace at place-kicks when he flashed a header just over the top.

Thurso's opener stemmed from a slip by a visiting defender which allowed Alan Murray to power down the unguarded left flank.

As he veered into the box, he was unceremoniously sent toppling by a crude lunge from Brian Davidson.  

Gray duly thumped the spot-kick low inside the left post as Robertson dived the other way.

The visitors went perilously close to getting on terms three minutes later when David Chapman raced clear after a long through ball came off the back of Alan Sutherland's head.

Chapman rounded Mackay to net, only to have the effort ruled out after referee Graham Fraser belatedly saw the offside flag hoisted by his assistant Cliff Ball.

This marked the start of a shaky spell for Thurso.

The equaliser followed a corner conceded by Mackay when he just managed to get something on a deep, floated free-kick from Colin Doull.

The keeper was powerless when the resultant corner from Doull saw MacDougall rise at the far post to head the equaliser.

Two minutes later, here was another  scare for the home camp when Andrew Maitland threaded a killer pass to Chapman whose run-in with Mackay was aborted thanks to a perfectly timed tackle from the retreating Shaun Moar.

Thurso regained the initiative and soon had their opponents tuned in to defensive mode again.

After 25 minutes, Kevin Warner's lay-off to Gavin Bremner saw the latter's powerful, swerving drive being adroitly turned past the post by Robertson.   

Two minutes later, a fierce angled shot from Phil Makhouli flashed across the face of the goal, narrowly missing its target.  

Robertson impressed again after 34 minutes when Lee MacDougall and Luke Cassidy combined before MacKenzie's would-be finish was plucked out of the air by the keeper.

Makhouli should have done better four minutes later when he missed the target after Alan Sutherland had picked him out at the far post.

Alness replied on 41 minutes with a half-volley from Brian Ross which went just wide.

The home defence was further troubled a minute from the break when Maitland's shot was half-blocked by Mackay before Warner completed the clearance under pressure from Chapman.

Tempers were frayed on both sides in a first half which had witnessed some grizzly tackles, most perpetrated by the visiting side.

Referee Fraser showed leniency in showing just two yellow cards -- one to Cassidy and the other to MacDougall.

Thurso turned the screw after the interval and they had enough chances to have reached for the cruise control well before the end.

But though their midfield was running the show, they struggled at the business end with too often attacks withering on the vine through poor quality crosses or woeful finishing.

The latter had its nadir on 50 minutes when the efforts of Makhouli and Murray created a golden opportunity for MacDougall who proceeded to lean back and launch the ball well over the bar.

After 57 minutes, the hard-working Makhouli's header from a  cross set up Gray for a close-in header which was scrambled off the line.

A sparkling move three minutes later ended with MacDougall searching out the inrushing Cassidy whose 12 yard shot was somehow deflected for a corner.

A similar effort by Makhouli met with the same fate while Cassidy miskicked after being teed up in front of goal.

The tale of woe extended to Makhouli after 74 minutes when he shot over after MacKenzie had crafted the opening.

Alness's Milton was booked for a foul on Murray before a dangerous 88th minute raid by the visitors saw Mackay safely gather a snap shot from Maitland.

Extra-time saw no let-up in the sustained onslaught.

Murray was twice denied early on, first with an angled shot which whizzed just wide and then seeing Robertson pawing his raking drive past his right-hand post.

After 106 minutes, Robertson parried a dangerous, inswinging cross from MacKenzie into the path of Ross Sutherland whose low drive from the edge of the box was goal-bound until a defender managed to deflect the ball for a corner.

A minute later, Alan Sutherland's back-header produced a marvellous one-handed save from Robertson.

After the second turnaround, the keeper was again in the spotlight, smothering Bremner's powerful, low shot and then doing well to turn away a MacDougall effort. 

In between, Thurso had a cast-iron penalty claim turned down when Makhouli was clearly upended in the box after he had wrong-footed Doull after 117 minutes. 

Given the way the game had gone, Alness were more than happy to be afforded the lottery of a shoot-out.

The body language of the Thurso men betrayed the psychological scars incurred by their failure to score from open play.

The sudden-death sequence was stacked in the visitors' favour after Chapman, Ross and Willie Stewart all scored for them and MacKenzie and Alan Sutherland had their efforts saved.

Thurso survived three match points when Gray and Bremner converted in between Maitland hitting a post.

But the experienced Davidson held his nerve to step up to give his side a decisive 4-2 advantage.

Thurso v Alness: B.Mackay, A. Sutherland, B.Gray, Moar (Forbes 105), Warner, N.Mackenzie, G.Bremner, P.Makhouli, A.Murray, L.MacDougall, Cassidy (R. Sutherland 76). Sub (unused) -- Coghill.

Ref: Mr G. Fraser, Inverness.