Strathspey Thistle boss wants to close gap on top-half teams
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STRATHSPEY boss Gordy Nicolson wants his side to take full advantage of their chance to close the gap on Huntly.
The two teams meet at Christie Park on Saturday. Huntly came out of the weekend's fixtures with a five-point and one-position advantage over the 13th-placed Jags.
The Black and Golds failed to extend the gap last night as they went down 7-0 at Fraserburgh. Thistle have games in hand on Huntly but Nicolson knows that if they are to finish higher up the table, they need to start making moves.
He said: "Hopefully we can close the gap and then make the games in hand count. We are looking to take something from the game. We want to get our football going and to pass the ball well. On the whole we have been defending well so hopefully that can continue."
Nicolson was frustrated on Saturday as the Jags did well to restrict Keith's attacking threat especially in the first half yet still conceded three goals. An inability to deal with set-pieces saw a one-goal lead at half-time turn into a two-goal deficit early in the second half.
The Grantown side then had to chase an equaliser and were picked off at the other end of the park late on.
Nicolson said: "It was frustrating. In the first half we scored, created a few chances and were in the driving seat. Then in a three-minute period in the second half we conceded two goals from set-pieces and that changed the game."
The Jags took the lead in the 33rd minute as Kris Duncan finished off a good move to score his first goal for the club, following a pass by Stephen Rennie.
Keith got back on level terms not long after the break as Craig Macaskill's free kick was headed home by Cammy Keith.
Thistle were then punished after they failed to deal with a long free kick sent into their penalty area by Andrew Smith. Striker Keith won the first header and directed the ball to Scott Gray who nodded it into the net.
With 12 minutes left James Olumofe made sure of the victory with a fine strike across goal.
It was a disappointing result for a Jags' side that had gone into the game hoping to build on a 1-0 win at Fort William last Wednesday night.
Craig Macmillan came off the bench to score the only game in the 66th minute, with a close-range header following good work in the build-up by Scott Morrison.
Related article: Strathspey manager seeking victory over Keith
