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

SWL Cup Final - 31/01/09
Halkirk United 1 - 3 Golspie

(photo by ross-shire.net)

United endured a miserable afternoon on Saturday as their bid to claim their second trophy of the season floundered against a solid but less-than-inspired Golspie side.

They were left to rue defensive failings in an opening 12 minutes during which all four goals were scored.

Halkirk striker Sandy Sutherland had quickly cancelled out Shane Sutherland's third minute opener only for the Anglers to concede two avoidable headed goals from corners.

Both fell to recently recalled veteran Robbie MacDougall who may be carrying a pound or two over his fighting weight but remains a dangerous opponent.

Ian MacDonald's outfit approached the final in good heart, looking to extend a 10-game winning sequence and add to two cup victories already achieved on Muir of Ord's pitch this season.

Neither camp was prepared for the early goal blitz, which was to prove decisive.

The sides were still getting the measure of each other when Golspie went ahead on three minutes.

(photo by ross-shire.net)

A free-kick into the United goalmouth was half-cleared to the edge of the penalty box from where Shane Sutherland's rising shot eluded the reach of keeper Jamie Mackay.

The Anglers were still reeling from that setback when a long-ranger from Colin MacLean thudded back off Mackay's left upright.

United hit back on five minutes when Lee Elder's lay-off invited Colin Davidson to have a crack on goal.

His effort was parried by keeper Neil Mackay who was powerless to prevent Sandy Sutherland prodding home the equaliser.

The latter was almost in for a second when Neil Mackay fumbled his attempt on goal and was relieved to see the danger cleared by a team-mate.

Sandy Sutherland then shot just wide after being teed up by Mark Nichol.

Just as Halkirk were threatening to get the upper hand, they suffered two hammer blows from corners within three minutes of each other.

Shane Sutherland's inswinging deliveries on each occasion were poorly defended though still required clinical back-post finishes from MacDougall.

After the lively opening, both teams adopted less cavalier approaches for the remainder of the half.

There were precious few chances created at either end with the rival midfields virtually cancelling each other out.

(photo by ross-shire.net)

Neil Mackay was maximising the time he had to launch a clearance from the edge of his penalty box.

After picking up the ball from the ground as Elder approached, Mackay appeared to knee him before throwing the ball out of play to get treatment for the forward, who was writhing in pain.

Ref Mark Dalton was alerted to the incident by an assistant but decided the keeper's misdemeanour merited no more than a yellow card with the game restarted with a throw-in.

A penalty and a man advantage could well have turned the game Halkirk's way. Instead, the Caithness side's prospects were further damaged by back injuries forcing the premature exits of central midfielders Gavin Henderson and Graham MacDonald either side of the interval.

Henderson's replacement Colin Sinclair proved his side's main goal threat in the second half.

A minute after the resumption, his long-range effort almost caught Neil Mackay off-guard.

The keeper was caught out again on 59 minutes by a Sinclair free-kick which was hacked off the goal-line.

Four minutes later, Neil Mackay spilled another Sinclair free-kick with Stuart Florence firing the close-range rebound wide of the target.

(photo by ross-shire.net)

The Golspie keeper failed to hold a carbon-copy delivery by Sinclair on 75 minutes with sub Stevie Reid this time drilling the follow-up just past.

The final chance fell to Golspie with Jack Mackay denying MacDougall a hat-trick with a fine stop.

Manager MacDonald was left doubly depressed at losing the final as well as seeing two key players face spells out with injury.

He was also seething over Mr Dalton's decision not to award a penalty and dismiss the keeper for the incident involving Elder.

That was a key moment in the game, said MacDonald. At 3-2 - even if they had 11 men - I would have been confident we could have turned things around as they hadn't played for a while and didn't look fit. As it was, we ran out of ideas though we were unlucky not to get something out of the free-kicks Boris (Sinclair) delivered in the second half.

Golspie - Hutchison, A. Sutherland, Thomson, MacLean, S. Thomson, Sanderson, Dunnett, Campbell. MacDougall, Whyte, S. Sutherland. Subs - MacDonald, D. Taylor, MacBean, J. Sutherland and R. Taylor.

Halkirk - Mackay, Ross, Davidson, Farquhar, Miller, Henderson (Sinclair 34), Florence, MacDonald (Reid 47), S. Sutherland, Nichol, Elder. Sub (unused) - Murray.

Referee - Mr M. Dalton.

report provided by Iain Grant

pictures provided by ross-shire.net

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