Bonar Bridge have just five more North Caledonian League fixtures to secure a top 10 finish this season.
However, recent draws against Alness United and St Duthus have given the Migdale men the belief they can finish ahead of some of their rivals.
Rob Mitchell’s side will return to action with the rest of the division a week on Saturday when they host Football Times Cup winners Thurso – which will be one of three meetings between these teams in the next few months.
Their visitors are one place and one point below Bonar, but with five games in hand, so a home win would not only keep Bonar ahead of Thurso and Inverness Athletic, but offer them a chance to overtake Nairn County reserves.
Our goals from today, thanks to @StDuthusFC for the footage. pic.twitter.com/ERYOKmjz2i
— Bonar Bridge FC (@bonar_fc) December 12, 2021
Low squad numbers challenging
Mitchell explained a shallow player pool is challenging, but remains hopeful of progression in 2022.
He said: “At times, we feel as if it’s one step forward and two steps back. We don’t have a big squad.
“If we miss two or three players, it really affects us. The bigger clubs can afford to lose three or four players and still have that edge.
“We have not had that consistency of selection throughout the season, but when we do have it we’re not far away in games.
“We’re hoping from the New Year we will have close to a full squad. When we have that. we’re confident of giving anyone a game. When we’ve had an embarrassing result, we’ve picked ourselves up after it.”
Three Thurso clashes await Bonar
Bonar Bridge will have a minimum of six games to round off their campaign, with one team set to be a regular 90-minute rival.
Mitchell added: “We have got just five league games left and one cup tie. Out of those six games, three are against Thurso.
“We were up at Thurso in the Football Times Cup earlier in the season, but we’ve yet to play them in the league and we’ve got them in Bonar Bridge in the North Caledonian Cup (on January 29), so we will see plenty of them early next year.
“Hopefully over three matches, we’ll hopefully take something from them. If we could get the win against them in the league it would be great, especially as they have so many games in hand.
“We’re going into the New Year positive. Our target is to get a couple more wins at least on the table. If we could also beat Thurso in the cup, it would maybe give us confidence to do something in the competition.”
Division has plenty of quality
Perhaps the toughest day of the campaign for Bonar was on November 20 when rock-bottom Inverness Athletic hit them for seven without reply in the Highland capital.
Mitchell reckons that result underlines the strength of the division overall.
He said: “Every team is capable of getting a result against another, from the bottom to the top.
“Inverness were arguably one of the best teams we’ve played this season on the evidence of that game, yet they are bottom of the league.
“They ran over the top of us. Yes, we were poor that day, but all credit to them because they were really at it that day.
“The game after the Inverness match was against (league leaders) Loch Ness and we probably put in our best performance of the season in.
“Even although we lost 3-1, we were pushing for an equaliser until the last minutes, then Loch Ness got one. It was a good reaction from us and we’ve drawn twice since then.”
Safe and sensible way ahead for clubs
The NCL have opted to play on, despite the recent national restrictions set by the Scottish Government within the higher tiers due to rising Covid cases.
Mitchell believes clubs are well-drilled on how to stay safe, meaning the matches can go on without any due disruption.
He added: “As a community, everyone here is very aware of responsibilities of looking after the elderly and not taking any chances.
“Everyone has been pretty sensible. For example, you minimise contact in changing rooms and ensure you do the right things.
“We ask the boys to look after themselves and they know if there are any symptoms to get tested.
“My view is to keep going. We have been in this situation for well over a year now and it should be a case that, at worst, we postpone and rearrange a fixture. I’m sure everyone is keeping safe and sensible about it.”
League games return on January 8
The full NCL fixture list for next Saturday (January 8) is – Orkney v Alness United, Nairn County reserves v Loch Ness, Golspie Sutherland v St Duthus, Halkirk United v Invergordon, and Bonar Bridge v Thurso.
NORTH CALEDONIAN LEAGUE FIXTURES – 8.1.22
(SPONSORED BY MACLEOD & MACCALLUM)Orkney v Alness United (12.45 p.m)
Nairn County 'A' v Loch Ness
Golspie Sutherland v St.Duthus
Halkirk United v Invergordon
Bonar Bridge v ThursoAll 1 p.m kick-offs unless stated #NCFA #NorthCaley pic.twitter.com/DzwDDAFElm
— North Caledonian FA (@NorthCaleyFA) December 20, 2021