Fort William manager Shadab Iftikhar hailed his spirited side for digging deep to post their first Highland League win of the season.
The division’s basement club are blasting through a punishing schedule of five fixtures in 11 days before they prepare to tackle North McBookie.com Superleague champions Banks o’ Dee in a double header later this month.
However, hot on the heels of drawing 1-1 with Turriff United on Monday, they scored a superb 4-2 win at Strathspey Thistle just 48 hours later, which was their first victory of the campaign.
Never-say-die spirit powers Fort
Iftikhar was thrilled as goals from Ethan Cairns, Adam Morris, Igor Sani and Yves Zama earned the Lochaber team maximum points in a game in which they trailed and were level in twice, including late on.
The Claggan Park boss said: “It was a great performance.
“If you look at the whole season and even the last week alone, three times now we’ve been down to 10 men due to injuries.
Congratulations to Ethan Cairns and Igor Sani who both got their first goals for the club in tonight’s win 👏
📸 – Elliott Cansfield. pic.twitter.com/kDh5fPVLr0
— Fort William FC (@FortWilliamFC) April 13, 2022
“However, we’ve shown great character and such a strong mentality, even when pegged back at 2-2 on 80 minutes to go and score two more in the last 10 minutes.
“It speaks volumes about the changing room. Had we had that changing room since January, we would not be in this position.
“We are doing a rebuild at the club and the boys have again shown tremendous character.
“The club also deserve a lot of credit. Wednesday was a great night for everyone at the club. It has been a long time coming and hopefully we can build on it.
“We showed a resilience and that’s what’s needed. You have to deal with adversity in life, you have to deal with it.”
Little recovery time with Vale next up
Iftikhar explained as soon as they’d walked off the Seafield Park pitch on Wednesday, their attention was straight on to Saturday’s road trip to Banff to take on Deveronvale in their penultimate league match.
He added: “Our focus went into recovery for the next 48 hours after Strathspey. We have another early morning trip on Saturday as we’re used to now, as we go to Deveronvale.
“We then go to Rothes on Tuesday before we play Banks o’ Dee. It’s not ideal, but what can we do?”
FULL TIME:
Fort William 4-2 Strathspey Thistle
The streak has ended, we get our first win of the season! pic.twitter.com/sQps9LCIKJ
— Fort William FC (@FortWilliamFC) April 13, 2022
Tough task to overcome Banks o’ Dee
A week on Saturday, Fort travel to Spain Park for their first pyramid play-off with Banks o’ Dee seven days before they bring their opponents to Claggan Park.
Iftikhar admits the odds are stacked against his squad as they fight for the right to stay in the Highland League.
He said: “Banks o’ Dee are the clear favourites over 180 minutes, especially with us playing again on Tuesday night, which makes it easier for them. I am sure they will be planning for next year in the Highland League.”