Tain Thistle boss Maclellan puts focus on ‘three more big asks’ after top-of-the-table win over Golspie Stafford
The race for the North West Sutherland amateur league championship is now in the hands of Tain Thistle, after the Easter Ross side beat defending champions Golspie Stafford on Saturday.
Scott MacDonald was the man of the moment for the Tain Jags, netting twice after Golspie were reduced to ten men shortly before half-time.
Adding to the Sutherland side’s woes, they suffered further defeat at the hands of Inver on Tuesday night.
The result leaves Thistle three points clear at the top of the division with a goal difference advantage of 15 — but Tain boss John Maclellan is refusing to get carried away.
Speaking after the game, he said: “The game was a must win for us in a week of three must wins. Golspie deservedly beat us 3-1 over there, so we knew we were up against it in terms of the head-to-head should we finish level on points.
“We’ve kept our own ambitions fairly private but everyone’s goal at the start of the season was to go and win the league. We are in a strong position now but anything can happen and we aren’t taking anything for granted.
“I felt we deserved the win, which is a massive credit to the boys as the other two times we have played Golspie, they have been the better team.
“We were moving the ball really well and we had the intensity off the ball and in the tackle too.
“The sending off certainly made it more difficult for Golspie but I don’t think it changed the game particularly much.
“We have three more big asks now with away trips to both Lochbroom and Lochinver, and then another derby against Inver at home.
“We will stick with taking it a game at a time, focussing first on Lochbroom, who have quality players all over the park and can hurt any team in this league.”
It was a bad week for Stafford overall, as they went on to suffer a 5-2 defeat at Stafford Park at the hands of Inver.
Inver were ahead for the entire match, having raced into a 2-0 lead early on through Aiden Stainke and Jayden Loughlin, before Golspie reduced the deficit through Alexander Mackay.
Inver extended their lead from a corner in the second, Jack Traynor netting to make it 3-1, and moments later Alex Mackenzie found the net to grab the away side’s fourth.
A Cammy Sutherland goal further reduced the gap between the sides, but the evening belonged to the Ross-shire side, who rounded off their win with a goal from substitute Reece Wilson.
Lochbroom had no luck in their second west coast derby of the season, losing out to a ruthless Lochinver side at Culag Park.
Long-range strikes from Jake Lockett and Gary Fisher helped Lochinver to two-goal lead before Shaun Marshall levelled the scores with a fine solo effort.
The home side were not ready to let up though, and Duncan Matheson and Cameron Maclean scored to complete a 4-1 win.
In League 2, Brora Wanderers hit Embo for six at Back Park.
Charlie Dunbar was on target twice for the visitors, with goals also coming from Luke Ainsworth, Ally Gray, Cal White and Mike Maclean.
David Bell notched in reply for Embo.
On Saturday, Tain Thistle and Golspie Stafford were locked in contention until the 43rd minute when an off-the-ball incident led to the dismissal of Stafford forward Alexander Mackay.
It took Thistle just two minutes to capitalise on their man advantage, when Finn As-Chainey played Scott MacDonald in on goal and the striker fired a shot across Leo Shearer and into the net.
The pressure paid off 20 minutes into the second half when a persistent MacDonald shrugged off a challenge to dribble into then box and slot the ball past Shearer.
To make matters worse for Golspie, coach Ewen Campbell was given his marching orders from the touchline after some remonstrations with referee Ian Ross.
Thistle’s second goal brought the head-to-head score level between the sides at 3-3 — turning the win into a “six-pointer” with Tain’s goal difference now sitting at +38 compared to Golspie’s +23.
In the other game of the day, Lochinver and Inver shared the points at Culag Park in a 2-2 draw.
Jake Lockett and Gary Shand were on target for the home team to battle back after twice going down to goals from Jack Corbett and Jordan Hailes.