Local rivals St Duthus and Invergordon will contest this season’s Football Times Cup final – but they both had to dig deep to get there.
Clachnacuddin A side, who only joined the North Caledonian League this year, put in a brilliant show as they drew 2-2 with Tain Saints.
Ben Bruce put St Duthus ahead early on, but Troy Cooper levelled for the young Lilywhites on 12 minutes.
Former Caley Thistle star Ross Tokely restored Alan Geegan side’s advantage, but Kieran Syrjanen equalised to take the game to penalties.
Saints, who won the North Caledonian Cup in April, ensured they would contest the final as they triumphed 5-4 on penalties.
Today’s Man of the Match was penalty saving hero Johnny Allan. pic.twitter.com/dH20Xixqhu
— St Duthus Football Club (@StDuthusFC) October 8, 2022
League champions Invergordon had to come from a goal down, but emerged with a 3-1 victory in their home semi-final against league leaders Loch Ness.
Shane Carling’s visitors got their noses in front thanks to Phil MacDonald’s 21st minute opener.
Late first half goals from Benjamin Kelly and Ruaridh Patience turned the tie in Invergordon’s favour and Jordan Knight netted a crucial third goal 10 minutes into the second half.
3-1 @InvergordonFC. Great performance from the lads today . #Champions @NorthCaleyFA
— Invergordon FC (@InvergordonFC) October 8, 2022
A new name will be on the trophy, with holders Thurso knocked out by Saints in the last round. The date and venue is to be confirmed.
Orkney thump stunned Golspie 6-1
Despite bowing out of the cup, it wasn’t all bad news for Loch Ness as they remain the front-runners in the league.
That’s because perfect starters Golspie Sutherland crashed to a stunning 6-1 home defeat against Orkney.
Full time! Golspie 1-6 Orkney.
Terrific result on the road 💪#OrkneyFC #NCL North Caledonian FA— Orkney FC (@OrkneyFC) October 8, 2022
Incredibly, two goals from Toby MacLeod and one each from Owen Rendall, Gregor Dowell and James Pickles had the islanders cruising 5-0 at the break.
Joe Wilson made is six early in the second half before Billy Cairns’ reply was a mere consolation for the shell-shocked champions of two years ago.
They do, however, lie just one point behind top-spot, with Orkney now third, but six points away from first position.
Nairn County kids earn battling draw
Inverness Athletic could have gone third had they won, but they were held 3-3 by hosts Nairn County A in a cracker.
The North Kessock-based side got off to the ideal start as goals from Aidan Hersee and Dean Allison had them 2-0 ahead at the interval.
However, Stuart Finnie’s youngsters stormed back to level with replies from Ciaran Young and Ross Peters.
Inverness regained their advantage when Luke Mackay nudged them 3-2 ahead.
90’ | 🟡 NCFC 3-3 IAFC 🌑 | #Nairn #InvAth
FULL TIME
Full time here in Nairn and it’s a point apiece. 1st half strikes from Hersee and Allison were cancelled out by Nairn early in the 2nd half. Mackay scored to put IAFC back in front before Nairn equalised late on from the spot. pic.twitter.com/Nqlf0PUavC— Inverness Athletic Football Club (@InvernessAthFC) October 8, 2022
However, Nairn never gave up and a late Young penalty earned them a point to keep them in 11th position.
Anglers hit goal trail to rock Bridge
The biggest winners of the weekend were Halkirk United as their 8-1 rout of basement side Bonar Bridge lifted them to mid-table.
The struggling hosts, who had two men sent off, took the lead through Bruce Urquhart on 21 minutes, but a Steven Anderson goal and Ben Sinclair made it 2-1 at the break for United.
And the Anglers roared to victory as Kuba Koziol’s double, and goals from Innes MacIntosh, Hasheem Bremner and one more each from Sinclair and Anderson ramped the result up to 8-1.
Full time 8-1 Halkirk.
— Halkirk United FC (@HalkirkUnitedFC) October 8, 2022
Five-star Alness rise to fifth position
Alness United can be happy with their work too as they recorded an impressive 5-0 victory at Thurso to move up to fifth spot.
Both teams were on six points before a ball was kicked and Callum Coli bagged the only goal of the first half.
Jude Fraser added a second just after the restart and a brace from Alexander Mackay and a late goal from Michael Mckenzie earned United a fine result on the road.
Saturday’s league fixtures (all 2pm starts) – Clach A v Alness United, Bonar Bridge v Inverness Athletic, St Duthus v Thurso, Fort William v Nairn County A, Golspie Sutherland v Loch Ness, Halkirk United v Invergordon.
NEXT NCFA FIXTURES – NORTH CALEDONIAN LEAGUE – 15.10.22
Bonar Bridge v Inverness Ath
Clach 'A' v Alness Utd
Fort William v Nairn County 'A'
Golspie v Loch Ness
Halkirk Utd v Invergordon
St.Duthus v Thurso #NCFA #Northcaley pic.twitter.com/ouR3neRG0U— North Caledonian FA (@NorthCaleyFA) October 8, 2022
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