Halkirk United FC - Reports, Results & Photos - Season 2008-2009

League - 28/03/09
Alness United 0 - 8 Halkirk United

(photo by ross-shire.net)

Mark Nichol continued his remarkable North Caley scoring exploits on Saturday when he bagged four goals in the space of eight minutes. It took his tally for the season to 38, all but six of which have come in multiples.

His hauls include a seven and a six, with his total exceeding the league goals netted by all but two of the other 10 sides - Golspie and Balintore.

His latest flurry knocked the stuffing out of a managerless Alness side for whom the end of the season cannot come too soon.

Four nil behind at the interval and turning to face the stiff breeze turned their mission into one of damage limitation.

But for a lack of ruthlessness in front of goal on the part of the Anglers, the home caretaker player/manager duo of Keith Dingwall and Craig Vass could have presided over a record defeat.

Alness should have taken the lead when James Cochrane exploited slackness at the heart of the visiting defence to dash clear on 12 minutes.

Cochrane appeared to take stage fright with his attempt on goal missing the target by a wide margin.

A couple of minutes later, visiting keeper Shaun Henderson was required to tip well-struck Robert MacAskill's free-kick behind.

(photo by ross-shire.net)

The early encouragement Alness derived from this was soon to fade in the memory as Ian MacDonald's men took a firm grip on proceedings and Alness under-17 keeper Connor Hall became the regular focus of the action.

He was relieved to see Alan Farquhar and Kyle Ross both pass up decent opportunities.

Defender Kevin Miller then fired narrowly past after good work by Colin Sinclair and Nichol.

Hall's luck ran out on 30 minutes when Gavin Henderson's assist let in Nichol for his first of the afternoon.

Three minutes later, the striker exchanged passes with Sinclair before guiding the ball past the young keeper.

His hat-trick on 36 minutes followed neat interplay between Sinclair and Farquhar with the latter's cut-back being dispatched by a cracking back-post volley.

Nichol then eluded a would-be offside trap before wrong footing Hall and bagging his fourth.

Ross should have broken the sequence on 50 minutes when he dragged a shot wide when put in the clear.

He made amends three minutes later when he finished off a slick move involving Colin Davidson, Gavin Henderson and Nichol.

Halkirk pulled six clear on the hour-mark with Ross Sutherland marking his first start with a near-post deflected headed goal from Sinclair's corner.

(photo by ross-shire.net)

The chances continued to come thick and fast with Michael Bremner and Gavin Henderson going close and Sinclair being denied by an excellent save.

The seventh goal 10 minutes from time was created by Davidson's surge upfield and Nichol's flick and scored by sub Stevie Reid.

Nichol went close to adding to his tally before Bremner completed the rout with a last-minute strike.

Manager MacDonald was generally happy with how his side performed and singled out Nichol for his strike rate.

Mark was on fire on Saturday with all his finishes being first-class, he said.

MacDonald added:

We did not start well but once we upped the pace and improved our passing and movement, we took control of the game and could have ended with a few more goals.

But for a couple of early season blips, United could be featuring with Golspie Sutherland in a photo-finish finale to the league.

But with the title now being Golspie's to lose, the Anglers must look to the two remaining cups as their best chance to adding to the trophy cabinet.

Alness United - Hall, Doull, Bremner, MacAskill, Dingwall, Campbell, Sinclair, Munro, Cochrane, Manson, Murray. Subs (used) - Vass and Hinds.

Halkirk - S. Henderson, Sinclair, Davidson, MacDonald, Miller, Farquhar, Sutherland (Bremner 67), G. Henderson, Ross (Reid 61), Nichol, Murray.

Ref - Mr B. Baxter.

report provided by Iain Grant

pictures provided by ross-shire.net

End-of-Document