County Match Details
The Inter-County match against Caithness takes place at Brora, with our boys defending the Portland Bowl. Hopes are high of a repeat performance on home soil, but nobody is in doubt however that a tough contest lies ahead. The under 18s kick off at 2pm while the seniors kick off at 4pm. Both games are at Dudgeon Park, Brora, on Saturday, 1st June.
The Sutherland team strip was kindly sponsored by Edward Mackay Contractors. Below is a picture of Edward handing the strip over to Sutherland team captain Andrew Cairns (Birdie to all United fans !!!).
SENIOR SQUAD
Managers Stuart Sutherland and William Cowie.
The Senior squad is – Alan Bokas, Andrew Cairns, Billy Cowie, Malcolm Cowie, Martin Sutherland, John Macaulay, Tommy Macaulay. (Helmsdale), Walter Mackay, Darren Pullen, Scott Lannon, Steven Dugan, Ian Sutherland, John Smith, Stephen Macleod (Golspie), Robbie Gillanders, Jamie Shepard, Mark Acroyd (Dornoch), Alex Hamilton, (Embo).
U 18'S SQUAD
Managers Billy MacLennan and David Mackay.
The under-18 squad is – Sammy Jackson, Garry Macleod, Robert Macdonald, Stuart Mackenzie (Brora), John Mackay, Ian Moffat, Colin Fraser, Roddy Mackay (Dornoch), Euan Macdonald, James Macgillvary (Embo), David Gunn, Ian Innes, Jamie Clark (Golspie), Angus Flett, Euan Sutherland, Nicky Denoon (Helmsdale), Neil Macdonald, Stuart Allan, Jamie Morrison, Craig Caunter, Alan Sutherland (Lairg).
County Match Report
Sutherland let their grip on the Portland bowl go after Caithness had a dramatic finish to a very entertaining game, coming from behind to win 2-1. In the Under 18 game Caithness also had to come from one down to win 4-1, in another entertaining game. Scroll down for Match Reports.
The 2002 Senior Sutherland Team
SUTHERLAND U18's 1:4 CAITHNESS U18's June 1st 2002
In the first game Sutherland under 18’s got off a great start when Stuart Allan made a flying run down the right wing and his cross was expertly finished by Jamie Morrison as he beat the Caithness defence to the ball and coolly finished. For the next fifteen minutes Sutherland controlled things and were looking comfortable. Caithness then turned things around when a through ball found their striker Sean Henstridge in space and he kept his cool as he went round the impressive Sammy Jackson in the Sutherland goal and his shot beat the defender on the line. This seemed to lift the Caithness side and Sutherland started to look a little shaky, and within five minutes the visitors were ahead when a ball over the top found Henstridge and he coolly slid the ball under Jackson. The home team rallied and tightened things up but were caught out again when the lethal Henstridge found himself clear again on Jackson and the result was the same a goal, which gave Caithness a 3-1 lead, Ian Innes nearly pulled one back just on the stroke of half time when he slid in on a Jamie Morrison cut back but the angle was to tight and his shot hit the side netting.
The second half was a very tight affair with neither side giving away to many chances, the best chance for Sutherland was a Craig Caunter shot. With the experienced Caithness defence standing strong it looked like the game was going to finish 3-1, but the hard working Henstridge weaved his magic again and set up a chance for Martin Macgregor who finished from close range.
4-1 was very hard on the Sutherland side who put a lot of energy into the game but found Sean Henstridge a handful, his three first half goals was the only difference between the teams, and on another day Sutherland could easily have got a result. Nobody would dispute the effort given by our young boys and they have certainly started to close the gap on their Caithness counterparts, and with the management team of Billy MacLennan and David Mackay they seemed to have the boys right up for this one.
SUTHERLAND 1:2 CAITHNESS June 1st 2002
With the pitch still looking better than Wembley thanks to the efforts of Sandy Matheson who as usual had the pitch in excellent condition, it was the turn of the seniors to try and keep a grip on the Portland Bowl.
The team took to the field with the new strip which was sponsored by Edward Mackay, Contractors, Brora, and everything was looking good as the boys got off a positive start and pushed Caithness back. Walter Mackay and Andrew Cairns were causing concern to the visitors defence, with the strong running from midfield by Darren Pullen the early stages were good for the home team. As the half wore on Caithness started to even things out, and were starting to create chances, and Alan Bokas in the Sutherland goal had to look lively to field a close range shot. Robbie Gilanders went close when he charged down a clearance and the ricochet hit the post and bounced clear. Walter Mackay was also unlucky when a similar incident with a clearance hit him and went just wide of Michael Gray’s right hand post.
The second half saw Caithness dominate early on but without success, then came a decisive point in the game when Walter Mackay was brought down and a penalty was awarded. Darren Pullen stepped up and sent the keeper the wrong way to give Sutherland a great start to the half. Caithness put their hosts under pressure as they went in search of an equaliser and came close on several occasions as Bokas kept his side ahead with good saves. Then came the break through when Graham Reid found space in the box as a cross was driven low, he volley home from ten yards. With the game into injury time and penalties looming Caithness got a corner on the left and with an excellent delivery Alan Murray rose to head home a dramatic winner to send the Caithness support and team into raptures. The result was very hard on Sutherland as they fought tooth and nail but it was grabbed from them at the death. The game couldn’t have had a more dramatic finish, but it was an exciting end to an exciting day of Football, and Sutherland can feel proud of the way both teams performed and we now have to wait twelve months for the chance to try and win both trophies.
The League would like to take the chance to thank Brora Rangers for the way they helped and supported our County football, and Sandy Matheson for producing another top class pitch, also to our match Sponsors Clynelish Distillery and Jim McCue and Edward Mackay for our strip sponsor, and also Ian and Gill Strachan for our tie sponsor.
The four match officials on the day were Garry Macmillan, Matt MacLelland, Kenny Beats and Graham Fraser all who were outstanding.
Match Reports courtesy of www.embofootballclub.co.uk