Strathspey miss out on North of Scotland Cup final against Brora Rangers or Lossiemouth
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Strathspey Thistle have missed out on reaching their first final as a Highland Leage Club after going down 4-1 in a battling display against Rothes.
The Moray side – still unbeaten this season - was made to work for their place in the North of Scotland Cup final with the Jags just trailing 2-1 at the break.
The Speysiders now await the winners of the other semi-final between Brora Rangers and Lossiemouth to see who they face in the showpiece match on weekend of October 2/3 after the tie was called off because of Covid in the Brora camp.
An early Michael Finnis header from a corner settled Rothes into their rhythm in Grantown, with Craig Cormack's first of the season making it 2-0 before the break.
But Craig MacKenzie drilled home on the stroke of half time to give the Jags some hope going into the second half.
But a penalty award for handball allowed Alan Pollock to fire home his fourth goal of the season from the spot just after the hour.
There was a special moment for Rothes teenager Kane Davies in the final minute as he scored his first-ever senior goal to seal the Speysiders' place in the final.
Rothes have won just four major trophies in their history, including last year's League Cup success and two previous North Cup triumphs in 1958-59 – the season they also won their only title – and 1978-79.
