Alness United manager Robert Mitchell looking for ‘statement of intent’ from his players in 2024 Football Times Cup final against Inverness Athletic
Alness United manager Robert Mitchell believes victory in this weekend’s Football Times Cup final would be a statement of intent from the club.
United will be looking to win a major cup competition for the first time since the 2013-14 season when they won the North Caledonian Cup after they beat Muir of Ord Rovers 3-1, albeit they did win the North Caledonian League Second Division in 2021 when the league was split in two due to the impact of Covid.
Having made it through to the first final of the current season, though, Alness have the chance to restart that clock by lifting silverware.
Mitchell is determined to take that opportunity and end the wait for a trophy, knowing that it could spur the side on to more successes in the future.
“It’s a big occasion for the club to get back into a cup final, which is something we feel we should have done a lot more in the years past,” he explained.
“It would certainly be a statement of intent.
“That’s where the club wants to get to. Our league position over the last four years has been disappointing, because we want to be in the top half of the league table and be getting to cup finals.
“We didn’t have an easy run to the final – we beat Halkirk, Golspie and Clach – so we just have to remember all the hard work we’ve put in to get here and enjoy it.
“We don’t want to come off the park with any regrets, so we have to go and empty the tank for the whole match and make sure the cup doesn’t leave Alness on Saturday.
“It would certainly be a big boost of confidence if we could win. We’re maybe slightly too far behind in the league now, but a win on Saturday would give us a boost to go and look at the next cup as well.
“We’re not looking past Saturday though. We’ve put in lots of hard work to get there, so let’s just go and enjoy the occasion.”
The Football Times Cup final was originally supposed to be played two weeks ago, but was cancelled because of the impact of Storm Bert.
That extra time has allowed Scott MacIver to return to action ahead of the game, and has also forced a change of venue – with Alness now having home advantage at Dalmore Park.
“It’s on our own ground, which I’m not a big fan of,” Mitchel added.
“It should really be played at a neutral ground, but the way things have worked out with the weather it’s going to be here.
“It would be brilliant to win it at home, but horrible to lose it.
“I don’t think it will be an advantage. We’ve got a fantastic surface here, and we know Inverness are a ball-playing team, so they will absolutely delighted to be on the park.
“It should make for a good game of football. We’ll certainly try to play football, and we know they will as well, so it should be a good one.”
