Ten goal thriller as Jags go down at Rhu
Report by Peter Newman South Lochaber Thistle’s pre-season continued with a trip to Helensburgh, suffering defeat at the hands of Rhu Amateurs in another ‘local’ friendly.
The Kinlochleven outfit made the trip south after having played well in a plucky defeat to Oban Saints the previous week.
Manager Alan Gray has been using the friendlies to blood new players and try out new formations and combinations within the team as the league programme appears on the horizon.
The first half saw the Jags set up in a 4-4-2 formation with Marcus Spence in goals behind a back four of Leigh Dunning, Callum Boyd, Steven Neil and
Kieran Lopez. Liam Gilchrist and Martin Munro lead the line in front of a midfield four of Sean Noble, Greg Kelly, Andrew McLean and Allan MacLellan.
And it was rangy midfielder McLean who opened the scoring in the second minute. A Boyd free kick was helped on by Munro. The ball landed at the feet of McLean who slotted the it home.
Unfortunately, this was the main highlight of the first half for the visitors. Rhu began to move the ball confidently and the first half saw the Jags concede five goals.
On a brighter note, goal of the game came midway through the half with skipper Munro jinking around several defenders before calmly curling a left-footed shot high into the keeper’s top right hand corner.
A change of system and the introduction of Bradley Cameron, Calum-Ruairidh
Foxley, Ross MacLean and Morgan Birrell turned the game. First goals for the club for Birrell and Gilchrist were positive signs for the Greater Glasgow Amateur League team. Also of note was skipper Munro, the veteran of the side, the oldest player on show at 25 years old.
A solitary reply from Rhu saw the game end 6-4. Manager Gray said: ‘A huge thanks to everyone at Rhu for hosting us and getting the game on.
‘It was a good run out for the lads and allowed everyone to get minutes under their belt. The scoreline wasn’t great but in terms of what we were looking for, we saw plenty of positives.
‘This is a youthful squad with much potential in it. We are looking forward to getting the results to match the performance in the near future.’
Joint man of the match: Munro and Gilchrist.