Badenoch United claim their first ever silverware in welfare football
This year’s McCook Cup Final was something of a special occasion as both sides were appearing in their first ever competition final.
The form book for Friday’s clash had this as a straightforward win for Badenoch.
However, it was Rovers who took the game by the scruff of the neck straight from the whistle and the Grantown side laid siege to Badenoch’s goal.
Kyle Scott came desperately close to netting the opener with a thundering drive from distance that almost bent the crossbar.
Shortly after that John Fowler saw the woodwork come to United’s aid once more when his drive pinged off the post.
United had a few half chances of their own, but these amounted to little as the first half ended with neither side scoring.
Shortly after the restart however, Rovers’ dominance finally paid off when a shot from Scott took a deflection and looped over the despairing keeper into the net.
But the lead did not last long.
A corner was whipped across the penalty area, and following a bit of a stramash Scott MacDonald managed to tap Badenoch back on level terms.
United were now gradually taking the upper hand.
They were presented with a golden opportunity to take the lead with a penalty after Callum Donaldson was felled in the box.
However, Dougal Cameron sent his spot kick way wide.
Then came a moment of controversy. Jake Rodgers burst through on goal only to be brought down for what his side thought was a penalty.
Rodgers seemed to land on the ball, and as everyone stopped awaiting the referee’s whistle Rodgers jumped to his feet and duly found the net.
The Rovers defence was furious as they believed the Badenoch player had grabbed the ball when on the ground but the goal stood despite their animated protests.
This turned the game on its head, and it was soon 3-1 after Donaldson was taken out inside the area for another penalty.
This time MacDonald made no mistake from 12 yards.
Rovers well still smarting from the second Badenoch goal, and tempers soon began to rise.
A blatant foul from Andres Trolese earned him a second yellow card and Grantown were down to 10 men.
Sam Cairns and Finlay McBain added further gloss to the result with two quick-fire goals.
Back to league business… for some
The Strathspey & Badenoch Welfare League has been plagued in recent week by referees calling off their games in order to take on Highland League pre-season friendly games.
This has been causing big problems for the local football league organisers.
The planned Grantown derby at Carrbridge on Tuesday evening had to be postponed at short notice meaning only two games survived on the week seven card.
However, these both proved to be enjoyable encounters for the spectators.
Aviemore Thistle 4-0 Cromdale
With just three fixtures remaining, the Jags are looking to go two whole league seasons undefeated.
The last time they dropped a point was two years prior in a 2-2 away draw with Boat of Garten Ospreys.
So it was perhaps unsurprising that they started the game very much on the front foot, playing some lovely one-two football.
They cam close to scoring on 20 minutes when Wayne Cathcart met a corner only to see his powerful header superbly saved by Dale’s keeper.
But the deadlock was broken five minutes later when a slick move down the left ended with the ball at Rory Mackinnon’s feet, and he finished superbly from 25 yards out to give Thistle the advantage.
Cromdale had a good chance to equalise just before half time but some last ditch defending from Cole McCallum kept the visitors at bay.
Ten minutes after the restart Aviemore extended their lead further when Connor Macleod let loose from the edge of the box and his low drive flew into the bottom corner.
Mackinnon then nabbed his won brace with a delightful finish from inside the area to see the Jags three goals to the good.
Then came the goal of the night.Some exquisite one-touch football saw the Jags move the ball from defence into attack.
A neat lay off from Wayne Cathcart found Mackinnon in space, and he duly found his mark for a deserved hat-trick.Cromdale refused to give up though and mounted some late pressure, but Aviemore’s defence held firm to ensure their 100 per cent record remains intact.
FC Abernethy 2-1 Badenoch Utd
Badenoch scorer was Dougal Cameron, header from a corner.
Fresh from their McCook Cup triumph on Friday, Badenoch travelled to Nethy with high hopes of recording their third league win of the season.
Abernethy, though, had other ideas as they too were seeking a hat-trick of wins.
United set their stall out early with a fine Dougal Cameron header but Abernethy then dominated the remainder of the first half with some direct, attacking football.
Ben Buckler, Jack Ward and Jules Orsi were playing high meaning Ian Wraight, Andrew Lehane and Owen Caldwell in midfield had plenty of the ball and were regularly creating chances.
The equaliser came when Buckler was released by a threaded through ball from Orsi. He turned inside the defender but saw his shot parried by the keeper.
Jack Ward reacted fastest to capitalise on the rebound.
Wraight was then desperately unlucky when his pile-driver from 35 yards smashed off the crossbar with the goalkeeper beaten.
Their domination continued in the second half but the chances continued to go begging.
That was until Rob Stewart stepped up for a free kick 25 yards out and smashed home a low strike off the wet turf.
The hosts continued to create chances but just could not kill off the game.
However, they continued to defend well and saw the game out to record their second league win on the bounce.
