Orkney 1
Fort William 2
North Caledonian League
A tactical masterclass from assistant manager Darren Duncan saw Fort William FC return to winning ways on the road as they beat Orkney in Thurso on Saturday, writes Peter Newman.
Duncan fielded a reshuffled line up with usual winger Martin Munro deployed in central midfield and usual midfielder Connor Macleod shifting to centre half to wield his Magnum PI looks from there.
In a tight tactical battle it was Munro who opened the scoring as the game approached half time, slotting a penalty two minutes before the break.
Early in the second half, Orkney’s David Hourie levelled before, five minutes later, pint-sized hero Davie Neil loitered at the back post to pop home a Doeimassei Muller cross for his third goal of the season.
Duncan said: “Delighted with the win and the performance from the lads.
“After a couple of poor results and performances recently, the last thing we needed was a long journey to Thurso to play a very strong Orkney team.
“We were down to the bare bones in terms of numbers due to injuries and work commitments which meant there were a lot of changes to the starting 11.
“I told the boys before the game, however, that this was a great chance for some of the players that have maybe not played as much as they would of wanted, to go out there and prove too us they deserve to be in the team regularly and every single one of them did that.
“It was a really tough game but the boys were excellent.
“Our back four were solid, special mention to man of the match Connor who was a make-shift centre back for the day who didn’t put a foot wrong alongside captain Mikey Rodgers.
“I felt we controlled the midfield area with Munro in an unfamiliar holding role dictating the game and our two wingers, Muller and Lerlah Hay, causing the Orkney full backs issues all game with their pace and quality.
“Once again we had to rely on super sub Davie Neil coming off the bench and grabbing a winner for us which, I think, we definitely deserved.
“Hopefully this can give the lads a bit of confidence going into another tough game next week against league leaders Loch Ness in what is the first of a long list of home games we now have coming up.”
Fort William take on Loch Ness at Claggan Park on Saturday, kick off 13:00