This past week saw Turriff Utd take on two big games back to back. On Wednesday night in the Morrison Motors (Turriff) Aberdeenshire Shield First Round we were drawn against the team who humiliated us in last year’s final – Inverurie Locos.
Thankfully there was no repeat of the 5-0 drubbing we received last season and we managed to come away with a 1-0 win thanks to a header from Artem Kuznecov. On that chilly Wednesday night we had a team who, despite a lot of Locos possession, weren’t really troubled at all.
There was a calmness to the team that night that seemed to stem from our goalkeeper Kevin Main right through to the attack in Gary McGowan. Although I am not in the habit of singling out players for individual praise or criticism I would like to make special mention to two players on this occasion.
Two players who came into the side and who I personally thought had exceptional games. Robbie Allan who has been with the club since the junior days and Aaron McKenna who signed from Aberdeen University a bit more recently haven’t had the opportunity for a lot of games recently, but they both came in to the side and looked like they hadn’t missed a beat with regards to match fitness.
They stepped up and both contributed an enormous amount to the game with McKenna being voted man of the match. The only disappointing thing about Wednesday night was the sore head I got from standing next to the Chuff Chuffs and probably the joint worst pies I have tasted at any ground in the Highland League. Hopefully the ones I had were a one off and they are not normally like that.
That takes us up to Saturday’s game and the visit of Formartine Utd to The Haughs. An action packed game was not for the faint of heart. Both sides had chances and to be fair to Formartine in the last 15-20 minutes of the second half how they didn’t score I have no idea.
Our defence were absolutely magnificent and were throwing themselves in front of the ball to defend the lead given to us by Stuart Cumming and Lewis Davidson (what a strike by the way!).
The only frustrating thing for me watching these two games and some of the previous ones are the amount of times we seem to get caught offside (sometimes legitimate sometimes bad decisions), but hey if the only complaint you can have about your side are the amount of times they get caught offside then they must be doing pretty well…and I don’t think I have ever had a bigger grin on my face than after those two wins – both well deserved against teams who we have sometimes struggled against in the past.
Again this is testament to the work and effort everyone at the club is putting in to make us a well organised and fully fit team who can last the 90 minutes without faltering at the death.
Next up comes the visit of Strathspey Thistle this weekend which also sees the club host its annual ‘Ladies Day’ so no doubt the lads will be putting in that little bit of extra effort this weekend to impress (McGoo). If their recent efforts are anything to go by then Strathspey should be scared that they have been the unlucky recipient of ladies day! Until next time hope you all have a good week and enjoy your football #montheturra