WATCH: St Duthus grab 'opportunistic' winner to beat Clach 3-2
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Controversy rent the air in Tain on Saturday as Clachnacuddin A were left questioning a second half goal which saw St Duthus pick up all three points in their North Caledonian League meeting.
The Easter Ross side were rocked by a penalty award after just four minutes.
Saints thought they had cleared the danger when Cameron Maclean's penalty kick was saved by Johnny Allan and a follow up chance was blasted over the bar, but referee David Ross ordered a retake. Respotting the ball, Maclean duly put the Lilywhites 1-0 up.
Former Clach man Thomas Lewis, who signed for St Duthus last summer, levelled for the hosts 20 minutes later with a shot from a tight angle.
The Tain side completed the turnaround a minute into the second half through Finn As-Chainey to a goal ahead, but a finish from close range from Ruaridh Donald brought the scores level again.
The ink had hardly dried on the referee's notebook when the opportunistic Lewis scored the winner for St Duthus.
A long pass over the top of the Clach defence had evaded the forward, who was in an offside position, and the ball was easily collected by Clachnacuddin goalkeeper Michael Miele.
But Miele, believing that play had been stopped for a free kick, proceeded to roll the ball out in front of him only for Lewis to sprint towards goal and dribble the ball into the net.
Lewis, perhaps not believing his luck, even stopped momentarily before teammates urged him to pass the ball into the open goal.
Protests from Miele and Lilywhites bench after the goal fell on deaf ears as St Duthus held out for the win.
