All did not bode well with the home side, who had to kick-off with a depleted team and they played for the first 35 minutes with only ten men.

They tried to stifle play and Kingussie's numerical advantage but with the wind at their backs the visitors used their extra man to good effect to score two goals during the period.

The first was a low shot from Ryan Borthwick which evaded Aviemore's stand-in keeper Stuart Scullion.

The second goal came following a good cross from Rory Borthwick ,which Craig Ireland prodded home into the far corner.

RBL looked down and out, but once back to full strength they took a more balanced shape to hold on till the break without conceding.

The second half was a different affair with the Legion using the wind to good advantage and playing good passing football.

But Kingussie with their young forward line always looked a constant threat striking back with pace.

Gordon Peters nearly got RBL back into the game in the 55th minute, but his freekick was well saved by Cammy Dudgeon.

On the hour-mark, Ross McMonagle, who was superb down the left, took the ball down the line and cut inside beating several players. He laid on a shot for Alan Docherty, who was unlucky as his effort was deflected past the post.

From Docherty's resulting corner the dangerous Brian Minard rose above the defence and scored with great header into the top left hand corner to give the home side a lifeline.

Kingussie should have scored when they broke upfield in numbers a short time later but Rory Borthwick elected to shoot rather than pass to two unmarked players.

RBL's Scullion in goal now looked comfortable and made some good saves. He was excelling at gathering crossed balls which broke up a number of Kingussie attacks.

With ten minutes to go, RBL had a golden chance to equalise when the on-form Darren Thomas was put through with just Dudgeon to beat, but the keeper pulled off a great instinctive save with his foot to concede a corner.

It looked as if that would be it, but with four minutes on the clock, Minard caused havoc in the goalmouth again, this time with a darting run.

He was tackled, and the ball broke out to the wing and lobbed back into the goalmouth and Minard outmuscled the defence and headed the game into extra time.

RBL were more dangerous up front but their defence was creaking under Kingussie's counter attacks and their hard working midfield were visibly tiring as gaps began opening up all over the park.

The Kings were lasting the pace better and had introduced substitutes to freshen their team.

The deciding goal, when it came, was from a Kingussie counter. A through ball found Rory Brown whose early precise shot gave the on-coming Scullion no chance for the Badenoch side to go through to the final of their own cup.

· THE other semi-final saw lowly Aviemore Thistle go through to their first final of the season, also after extra time against Tomatin United.

Adam Cosgrove opened the Jags' account in 15 minutes with a well taken strike but Alex Hamilton drew the sides level 10 minutes later. Despite regular forays upfield by each side, there was to be no more scoring in the half.

The second half also began in unexcitingly fashion however it was to end in high drama.

First, Jamie Simpson put Thistle into the lead with only eight minutes remaining, but as the seconds ticked away United threw everyone upfield in a last-gasp effort to force extra time.

This included blues' keeper Gary Stuart, and from a corner the ball dropped kindly to his feet and his strike found the net just as ref Eric Robertson was getting ready to call time.

Extra time failed to provide any further excitement, however, and so the game was eventually decided on spot kicks, with the Jags edging it 4-2.

Printer friendly version

Email this article to a friend

Bookmark this

---