Aviemore Thistle and Cromdale to contest Caldwell Cup Final
This Friday’s Caldwell Cup Final at Carrbridge will be between Cromdale and Aviemore Thistle following Wednesday’s semi-finals.
These were brought forward a couple of days to accommodate the weekend’s Highland Cup fixtures.
Cromdale 3-0 Grantown Rovers
Both sides went into this encounter looking for their first cup final berths of the season.
League form had Cromdale’s name on that ticket but Rovers turned out to be no pushovers.
Graham Murray came close to opening Dale’s account on the quarter hour with a tremendous volley from distance which keeper Lyall Kinnaird somehow managed to get a hand to.
But five minutes later came the breakthrough.
Callum Mackenzie’s pacy run down saw him elude several defenders before swinging over a cross for Declan Sellars to tap home.
Mackenzie was the provider once again as the hosts went two ahead 10 minutes later.
This time his cross was met by Finlay Beange’s head to nod it past Kinnaird.
And it was almost three right on the stroke of half time when Mackenzie and Reece Allan combined to feed through Sellars but his final effort drifted just wide of the post.
Rovers firmed things up after the break but Cromdale continued to threaten.
And on 72 minutes they netted a bizarre third when Marcus Alliod’s speculative free kick from inside his own half somehow found its way through the keeper’s legs and into the net.
Charlie MacKay almost added a fourth a short while later when his powerful header pinged off the crossbar.
Badenoch Utd 1-5 Aviemore Thistle
The Jags were seeking revenge for their league defeat only days before, as well as the second cup final spot, and they achieved both in clinical fashion.
It was a fairly even start to the game before United took the lead in the 16th minute.
United’s Bobby Russell muscled his way through Thistle’s back line before floating over a delightful cross.
This was met be Callum Donaldson who showed some nifty footwork before slotting the ball past keeper Xavio Vastano.
However, as half time loomed Thistle’s Rory Mackinnon pounced on a rare defensive blunder to create some space for himself to drill home an equaliser.
This galvanised the Jags as they emerged for the second half a much revitalised side.
Their persistent attacks pushed Badenoch’s defence back and a nice one-two found Dafydd Simon and he duly slotted Aviemore into the lead.
This knocked the wind out of United’s sails and Thistle pounced with three quickfire goals from Mackinnon, Ross Peters and David Robertson from the spot to settle the score.