St Duthus end 51-year-old ‘hoodoo’ with away league win over Alness United
North Caledonian League side St Duthus put a 51-year-old hoodoo to bed on Saturday, claiming all three points against Easter Ross rivals Alness United.
In what could be described as a ‘surprising stat’, the win for the Tain side was their first ever in an away league fixture against Alness United.
Both clubs joined the then-named North Reserve League in the early 1970s, with Tain St Duthus playing their first game in 1971.
Alness United embarked on their maiden campaign a year later, after previous incarnation Easter Ross FC were renamed early in the season.
The Alness side were enjoying a period of success on the park, as back-to-back champions in 1972 and 1973, and unsurprisingly they won the first meeting between the sides in February 1973.
Throughout the rest of the decade they took the spoils in every league encounter between the teams.
It took the Tain side until September 1981 to buck the trend, recording a 1-1 draw before Alness withdrew from the league in 1982.
United returned to the North Caley in 1996, and immediately continued the record with a 5-0 win.
After falling into abeyance in 2005, St Duthus also took a break from the league, but returned in 2016 and have been chasing a league win in Alness since.
The ‘hoodoo’, which had seen the Tain club lose 17 of 18 league meetings in Alness during seasons when both have been members of the league, finally came to an end on Saturday, when a second half penalty swung the game in favour of the visiting Saints.
Manager John Maclellan said that fitness proved to be the difference as his side edged a narrow win.
“I was very pleased to come away with the three points and another clean sheet,” said Maclellan. “I felt Alness possibly edged the first half, but fitness is something we have really picked up on from last season and it paid dividends as the game went on.
“Every player in the squad played their role in the three points so I’m delighted with the lads, especially after we dropped our standards against Invergordon.
“We have our own goals for the season and will be keeping that in house, but that win takes us closer to them and we now focus on Halkirk at home this Saturday.”
Honours were even between the sides until the 76th minute when referee Gavin Dearie awarded Tain a penalty kick for a foul on Scott MacDonald inside the area.
Saints’ top marksman Adrian Voigt tucked away the spot kick and the visitors saw out the win to move within a point of the hosts in the league table.
