STRACHUR-DUNOON made the long journey north to Inverness at the weekend for their second instalment of three preseason fixtures.
It would have been a bare bones 11 if it wasn’t for ColGlen’s Willie MacVicar who helped out on the day, alongside Lewis Falconer who made his return for the club after a season away.
The Blues were met with a young, fit and energetic Inverness side who caused problems from the first whistle. The home side dominated the opening 15 minutes at a damp Bught Park.
Strachur-Dunoon did find their feet, though, and started to progress further up the park, firing a handful of warning shots towards the Inverness keeper.
With not long remaining, the Cowal side’s possession paid off when Marty Hall’s effort from 20 yards found its way into the side netting to give them the lead heading into the break.
After the interval, both sides continued to battle in what was turning into an end-to-end encounter. The two youngsters on either wing, Hunter Black and Spencer Thoms, worked tirelessly over the course of the game, covering a lot of ground which greatly helped the team out.
Once again it would be Strachur-Dunoon who capitalised on their chances when full-forward Roddy Cairns reacted quickest to slot his effort home off his backhand to double the advantage.
This spurred the home side into action, as the Highlanders used their pace and energy to put the Strachur-Dunoon defence on the back-foot.
Inverness’ half-forward slotted one home to bring them back into the game, before their young full-forward soared a cracking effort into the top right corner off the inside post – which was given despite strong Strachur-Dunoon protests that the ball crashed off the outside post instead.
Inverness would have made it three shortly after if it wasn’t for an excellent save from Nathan Morris in goal.
Strachur-Dunoon piled on the pressure towards the end, but the Inverness defence holding strong as the referee called for full-time in a beneficial 90 minutes for both sides.
Man of the Match was awarded to captain, Cammy Middleton, who was a standout at half-back.
The Cowal side continue their preparations with a match against Kilmory at Dunoon Stadium on Saturday
