St Duthus manager Alan Geegan reckons both North Caledonian Cup finalists will believe they have the match-winners within their squad to lift the trophy by Saturday tea-time.
The Saints take on Halkirk United at Brora’s Dudgeon Park at 3pm in what looks like a fascinating, entertaining clash.
Geegan swapped playing for managing as the chance came up last September when brothers Stuart and Andrew Ross stepped down.
NORTH CALEDONIAN CUP FINAL (SPONSORED BY @PentlandFerries) – 2.4.22
St.Duthus v Halkirk United at Dudgeon Park, Brora (3 p.m) #NCFA #Northcaley pic.twitter.com/5HD5WywDej— North Caledonian FA (@NorthCaleyFA) March 26, 2022
Fresh from beating title hopefuls Loch Ness 3-0 last weekend, the Tain team are in fine fettle against similarly buoyant opponents – who beat leaders Invergordon 3-1, a third victory this term over a side just 90 minutes away from winning the title against Orkney this Saturday.
However, Geegan is confident a 4-3 win for his men in Halkirk in December shows his side have learned from an early cup defeat by the Anglers.
He said: “The target when I took over was to make us more competitive again and we had one eye on this cup competition.
“We are one step away and hopefully we’ve got it in us to give it one last push.
“I expect a really tough game against Halkirk. We’ve played them three times this season and won one, lost one and drawn one, so that shows how close it has been.
“In the game where they beat us, it was 4-0 in the Football Times Cup in September, and it was as good a performance as I’d seen against us all season.
“I actually played that day and we were not at the races and Halkirk completely deserved to win it.
“They have a few players who can hurt any side, such as Grant MacNab, Jonah Martens and Andy Mackay, who is banging in goals from midfield. We need to be on our game.
“They will hopefully know what we can do, certainly even from the first league game. We chucked away two points in a 4-4 draw, but they will have seen our attacking qualities in the likes of Finn As-Chainey – who got a hat-trick last weekend against Loch Ness – Ben Bruce and Jake Lockett.
“Both teams have important players who can hurt any team and it will be a case of who turns up on the day.”
St Duthus triumph would be down to players
While Geegan would be thrilled to pick up the cup tonight, he is quick to say the achievement would be down to the players proving the quality they already had.
He said: “From a personal point of view, I’d be over the moon to win it. This is my first managerial trophy and it’s the first realistic trophy I could have won.
“However, it would be more about the players for me. Even when I was still playing, last pre-season, you could see the quality was in the squad.
“When I came in, I put no pressure on anyone and told them to go out, enjoy it and their quality can take over.
“They now believe in themselves and that is showing in our strong run of form. I’d be more delighted for the players than for myself if win it.”
Ideal preparation for cup final
Having defeated title contenders Loch Ness 3-0 and in such impressive fashion last week, Geegan felt it was a great example of how to handle real quality opponents.
He said: “We were not sure how it would go on Saturday as we were missing big players such as Ben Bruce, Ross Tokely and goalkeeper Jonny Allan, although keeper Gary Gillan, who we have on loan from Caley Thistle, had a great game.
90+3’ GOAL! It’s a hat-trick for The Flying Dutchman! pic.twitter.com/6yHGe06juz
— St Duthus Football Club (@StDuthusFC) March 26, 2022
“Loch Ness were pushing for the league, so they had a lot more to lose than we did. I think that helped us and we were able to relax into the game and our quality showed in the final third.
“We were tight and compact at the back and forced them into a tactical change where they were going for the long ball to try and get their pacy guys in behind, but I felt we actually looked the more dangerous team going forward.
“I was delighted and it keeps our good run going where we’ve only lost once in our last 12 games.”
