Clachnacuddin boss Jordan MacDonald praised his side’s character after coming from two goals behind to defeat Fort William 4-3 at Grant Street Park.
The Lilywhites led through Liam Taylor but three goals in the space of eight minutes put Fort in the ascendancy.
Robbie Foster volleyed home the equaliser before Blessings Tshibikubula nodded home the second and Connor Moore fired home from distance.
James Anderson reduced the deficit before the break and Eachainn Miller levelled matters at 3-3 with 13 minutes to go before Clach’s top scorer Anderson claimed the winner in the final minute.
GOAAALLLLLLLLL4-3 pic.twitter.com/8aM3j3DI58
— Inverness Clachnacuddin FC (@clachfc) October 9, 2021
MacDonald said: “We put ourselves in a position that we shouldn’t have but that was all credit to Fort William as they punished the mistakes we made.
“We had to show a bit of character in the second half. We managed to do that and thoroughly deserved to win in the end.
“Fort William were the better team in the first half but in the second half it looked like there was only going to be one winner and we got there in the end.
“It was a pleasing afternoon.
“We told the players after the game that they need to be more ruthless as we missed some really good chances.
“We weren’t ourselves in the first half and the players knew that.
“In the second half we were camped in Fort William’s half and did the things we were good at. We got what we deserved in the end.”
Sweet 16 for Rothes at Kynoch Park
Rothes eased into third spot in the Breedon Highland League with a 5-0 win against Keith at Kynoch Park.
The comfortable victory stretched the Speysiders’ unbeaten run to 16 games with Aidan Wilson leading the way with a fine double for the North Cup winners.
Rothes manager Ross Jack said: “I let other people talk of the unbeaten run, but I was pleased with the win.
“It could easily have gone the other way, Keith had a couple of chances in the first half.
“It just shows you the fine margins, but fortunately we took our chances and Keith didn’t.
“At 1-0 their centre forward put one over the bar, and we went right up to make it 2-0. They put us under pressure at the start of the second half, but I felt if we kept our belief and discipline the chances would come.”
The opening half hour was end to end before a low Wilson shot beat Keith’s 18-year-old goalkeeper Kyle Irvine at his right hand post.
Five minutes later a surging Tom Andrews run saw him ping over a perfect cross for Andy Stewart, but the Keith striker blazed over the bar from six yards.
That proved costly as within a minute Fraser Robertson hammered the ball into the roof of the net at the other end.
The Maroons pushed forward after the break and a fierce Michael Selfridge drive was deflected for a corner.
The visitors extended their lead through Wilson before Irvine pulled off a super save to deny the same player his hat-trick.
He was left helpless though as Rothes grabbed two late goals through substitute Gary Kerr and then a last minute scramble from Jack Brown.
Keith boss Craig Ewen said “The scoreline wasn’t a good result but in terms of performance levels it was much better than the midweek game at Banff.
“We had a couple of chances and if you don’t take them against the better teams it hurts you.
“We had a good chance at 0-0, then created another really good one when it was 1-0.
“The third goal killed the game and it sapped our energy. They were clinical in the end, so no complaints from us.”
