Week 13 (04/11/23) of the North Caledonian league so us feature away from home against last seasons champions, Loch Ness. Loch Ness due to pitch conditions changed the game to Dalmore Park Astro, Alness due home pitch conditions. This was always going to a tough fixture now made harder on the astro, but decided to continue to play the game.
We got off to the worst possible start, a preventable Goal down due to a break down in communcation after just 3 minutes when Allan Macphee for Loch Ness reacted quickest to make it 1-0.
Obviously lacking in confidence after such an early setback the boys hung in and rode their luck under severe pressure and with very little ball possession.
Approaching half time it was still 1-0 but a towering header from a Loch Ness corner in the 40th minute by Charlie Innes doubled Loch Ness’s Lead.
At half time Michael McClenaghan had to come off with a re occurring ankle injury and Cameron Breen was introduced to the game.
Then 10 minutes into the 2nd half we brought on Josh Sands up front, and his physical presence really helped us get back into the game, suddenly we were able to hold on to the ball all over the field.
In the 60th minute, almost against the run of play in the 2nd half, they scored through a dangerous cross and neat finish, to make it 3-0 Loch Ness (Scorer) Liam Taylor
Bonar Bridge made it 3-1 After a mistake from a Loch Ness free kick was sharply punished by debutant Josh Sands in the 65th minute.
Now it was end to end football. Our hard work was rewarded with a penalty and with around 15 minutes still to play. Unfortunately we couldn’t convert.
We have no complaints, the Best Team Won, but our 2nd half performance was very encouraging. It was also good to see Dean Fraser, Shadi Ali, and Euan Monaghan all come on and contribute to our strong 2nd half performance.
Our Man of the Match for the game was Alex Mackenzie tirelessly working all game up front causing the Loch Ness defense problems.
