Match report – Thurso F.C 1 V Golspie 3 – Saturday 27th November 2003

This reverse effectively kills off Thurso's MSIS North Caley title defence with Golspie now entering the second half of the campaign 14 points ahead of their Caithness rivals.

For the majority of Saturday's game at Sir Georges Park, a home success looked very much on the cards.

Having enjoyed the better of the first half, the Vikings drew first blood six minutes after the break thanks to a superb long-range strike from Willie Inrig.

But the adrenalin rush prompted by the breakthrough all too soon ebbed away as Golspie drew level through Chris Stone.

The equaliser was a telling blow and encouraged the visitors to press forward more often.

The deadly finishing of Gavin Nicolson proved decisive as he converted two incisive counter-attacks  to wrap up all three points for the Sutherland outfit.

A sparse crowd of largely diehard fans turned up on a dreich day  to see Golspie force the first corner of the match after good interplay between Nicolson nand Ian Innes.

The cross-ball was met by Darren Pullen whose mishit, looping shot had keeper Adam Bokas back-tracking furiously and happy to see the effort clear his bar.

Thurso dominated the first 45 minutes and should have enjoyed the confidence-booster of an early goal.

After five minutes, Inrig foxed the Golspie rearguard with a killer pass which had Alan Murray running through on goal.

The striker opted for an early shot which came back off the legs of keeper Ian Young.

Murray had another opening four minutes later after a messy sequence in the visiting penalty box ended with Luke Cassidy playing in Murray.

The striker was over-stretching and just failed to get what would have surely have been a scoring touch.

The welcome return of defender Shaun Moar gave Thurso a composure which had been lacking in their back three and he was soon prominent with several trademark interceptions.

Most of the danger to Golspie came down their right flank with Nigel MacKenzie featuring with some powerful surges downfield.

The game was surprisingly well-tempered with Cassidy the only booking after 25 minutes for dissent after Martin Baker had been fouled.

Bokas was largely a spectator though he did have to look sharpy after 26 minutes to sprint from his line and grab the ball on the edge of his box to thwart the inrushing Innes.

In between, Murray had several efforts on goal but they lacked the necessary power to trouble Young.

Thurso's downfall throughout the afternoon was in the poor to mediocre quality of cross-balls which all too often were comfortably pouched by Young in his six yard box.

Referee Sinclair gave Young the benefit of the doubt five minutes from the interval when the keeper spilled a far-post cross from Jamie MacKenzie.

If anything, he seemed to collide with a defender but the whistle prevented Thurso seizing on the loose ball which landed invitingly in front of the unguarded net.

Golspie almost took a shock lead on the stroke of half-time when a corner drew a header from Stone which flashed across goal before being hacked to safety a yard from the line.

A low-key restart to the game was transformed by Inrig's goal.

The midfielder gained possession 30 yards out, took aim and let fly with a shot which rocketed low between Young and his right-hand post.

Thurso had their tails up and three minutes later, Murray just ran out of space after a run into the box which ended with his shot being deflected for a corner.

The game was turned on itsd head on 55 minutes when Golspie sub Jamie Macleod made an immediate impact with a clever pass to Nicolson.

Nicolson weaved his way to the bye-line before squaring to Stone who side-footed home from two yards.

Thurso almost reclaimed the lead a minute later when a crisp move saw Murray again steal into the box but his attempted finish was comfortably clutched by Young.

The game was starting to drift away from the home outfit and Baker was lucky he did not find himself on the scoring sheet after 64 minutes.

The defender, under pressure, bulleted a header towards his own goal with Bokas doing extremely well to beat the ball out to Stone, who blazed over.

A minute later, Golspie took the lead when a counter, led by Gary Reid, ended with Nicolson passing the ball past Bokas into the far corner of the net.

Thurso regrouped after 70 minutes when Phil Makhouli's introduction led to Jamie MacKenzie dropping back to the defence.

Golspie went two in front after 79 minutes with Nicolson again profiting from space he was given on the left side of the penalty box.

Nicolson's turns and feints allowed him to break free from Moar before he unleashed a glorious strike which went in off the right-hand upright.

Thurso again almost scored from the kick-off with Nigel MacKenzie exchanging passes with Ross Sutherland and firing in a netbound shot which produced a brave block from Pullen.

After 82 minutes, Jamie MacKenzie's cross saw Kevin Miller emulate Baker with his would-be clearance header bound for the top left-hand corner of the net before Young somehow got finger-tips to push the ball over the bar.

Three minutes later, Young was again to the fore in saving an angled header from Makhouli.

Golspie continued to menace on the break and after 86 minutes, Nicolson would have had his hat-trick had Bokas not pawed away his fierce shot.

 The last chance fell to Murray whose drilled shot produced an excellent stop from Young.

Thurso v Golspie: Bokas, Baker (Makhouli 70),  Moar, Morris, J. MacKenzie, Bremner, Inrig, Sutherland, N. MacKenzie, Cassidy (MacDougall 62), Murray. Sub (unused) -- Coghill.

Ref: Mr W. Sinclair.