The Reds marched into the second round of the Highland Amateur Cup with a hard working victory over rivals Westside in Garrabost. Having beaten Ness on Wednesday, Coach Stoodie was able to freshen things up a bit by reintroducing Angus, Rob, Ali G and Gordy back into the team.
Point Team: Gordy, Angus, Ali G, Elliot, Daniel, Andrew, Hugh, Rob, Andrew Mac, Wally, Andrew Mo. Subs: Macca, Matthew, Martyn, Spike
In the first half the Reds played some excellent football, with the midfield of Morrison,Jones and Murray passing the ball well and feeding the wide players with quality ball. In defence, Elliot and Ali G were keeping West dangermen Innes Iain and Luke Mackay quiet whilst the full backs were also getting the better of their opposite numbers.
The Reds had already had a number of half chances before Rob Jones timed his run perfectly and bulleted a header high past Lurch in the West goal. The ball had been whipped in perfectly from Wally’s corner. Westside struggled to respond as Point continued to play the better football. Having said that, the Rudhachs had been very relieved to see the linesman’s flag raised as Innes Iain knocked a rebound into the net following Preston’s shot. Preston also had a shot well saved after chasing a long pass from the back. The Reds held on to half time, where they were reminded that it had been a similar score in the first game of the season and Westside had come back to win.
In the second half the Blues were very direct and pinned the Reds back for long periods, mostly through silly free kicks being conceded by the Rudhachs. Elliot and Ali G were colossal figures at the back as they headed away Duncan and Martainn’s expert deliveries. Gordy didn’t have an awful lot to do as the game got a little scrappy. Angus almost extended the Reds lead but his shot bounced into the side netting as he collided with Lurch in goal. With ten minutes left Point made sure of their place in the next round after being awarded a penalty. Rob Jones turned inside Euan Shirkie who, while stretching to win the ball, could only clumsily take out the Reds midfielder. Up stepped Hugh Morrison to take in all honesty a pretty bad penalty (!) which was saved; luckily Jones showed great technique to left foot the rebound into the net.
The Reds managed to see the game out fairly comfortably, earning themselves a home tie with Maryburgh FC on Saturday 3rd June with a 2:30 kick off.
Man of the match: Ali Gillies. Defended brilliantly throughout.
