It’s fighting talk from Fort Uncertain future:

But Lochaber men determined to finish season strongly

Fort William co-manager Ali Smith insists his players are determined to finish the campaign strongly despite the uncertainty over the club’s Highland League future.

The Lochaber men are considering dropping out of the league and applying to join the North Caledonian League, with a board and committee meeting to take place on Monday.

Fort have been given a deadline of the end of April by Highland League secretary Rod Houston to make clear their intentions.

Fort put in a spirited showing to claim just their third point of the campaign in Wednesday’s 2-2 draw at home to Wick Academy and Smith, whose side hosts a full-strength Formartine United today, insists his locally sourced players are out to prove a point.

Smith said: “It has not been an easy season.

“The whole team was a Fort William-based side on Wednesday. We have a lot of young players, so, from that point of view, despite the uncertainty around the club, we have to look at that as a huge positive for the community.

“They put in a great performance, I really can’t fault their effort.

“Apart from the Cove match, we have been cutting out some of the basic mistakes and staying in the game a bit longer.

“To be fair to Wick it wasn’t an ideal journey and if it was the other way we would be complaining as well. But it sends out a message to everyone that we are not done and dusted – we are still fighting. We are committed to the cause and we are going to fight until the end of the season.”

Attacker John Treasurer netted the opener on Wednesday and says Fort must take encouragement from their showing against the Scorries.

He added: “We showed on Wednesday that with a full team, we can play well, especially at Claggan Park. I think we deserved that after the season we’ve had.

“Hopefully we can pick up a few more in the rest of the season. With a few more players in, the likes of Wednesday shows that we can compete in the Highland League, but it’s about getting that on a consistent basis week-in, week-out.

“We do deserve to be in the Highland League as long as we keep those performances up.

“Looking at our goal difference, it can be disheartening, but if we keep at it and keep our shape, we can compete.”

“Fort William deserve to be in the Highland League”