Jags boss hoping for double celebration against Clach in the cup
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Strathspey Thistle boss Charlie Brown is hoping that the prospect of conquering Clach in the cup for a second time this season will act as a spur for his troops.
The game is the nearest the Grantown club gets to a local derby and Brown believes it will help left his players after their 6-0 home defeat to free-scoring Buckie Thistle at the weekend.
The Jags have already had one cup win over Clach this season and another, this time in the Highland League Cup, would help boost confidence in the camp.
Back in mid-August they got their first win of the season with a superb 4-0 victory away to the Inverness outfit in the North of Scotland Cup.
A first half blitz at the city’s Grant Street Park sent Strathspey into the last four of the competition.
The Lilywhites were left stunned by the Grantown side who they had beaten 4–1 in the Highland League the previous Friday evening.
Brown would love a repeat of that cup performance on Saturday.
He told the Strathy: “Clach seems to be a game that the boys get up for. They get a bit of a rise when playing them so hopefully they can take this into the game on Saturday and we can get a win.
“I think a lot of the boys see it as something of a derby match as many of them have friends who play for Clach and there are a few of our ex-players there as well.
“They will want to beat us just as much. It’ll be a tough match.”
Brown has said they will be ‘working on a few new things’ in training and there will be changes in personnel this weekend as they look to bounce back.
“Hopefully, the boys who come in can show what they are capable of and that they deserve a regular starting place,” he said.
The only injury for the game is long-term absentee Jake Thomson, on loan from League Two side Elgin City, who damaged his ankle in training a fortnight ago and may now need an operation to pin it to prevent the recurring problem.
Looking back at the Buckie loss, Brown said: “We were obviously disappointed with the result and performance. Buckie are a good team and, as expected, they dominated large parts of the game. We could just not get to grips with their movement and they punished us. They will be one of the teams challenging top four so we knew it was going to be a tough ask and it turned out that way.”
Andrew MacAskill got the ball rolling with a second minute penalty and by half time the visitors were 4-0 up, as Max Barry, Marcus Goodall and MacAskill again were on target.
MacAskill completed his hat-trick after the break and sub Scott Adams chipped in with a goal of his own.
Buckie manager Graeme Stewart said afterwards: “We played really well, it’s probably as well as we’ve played this season and I was delighted. We were relentless.”
