Friday 26 June 2007, 7:15pm
League

CARR-BRIDGE 4-2 TOMATIN

Carr-bridge bounced back from their Capaldi cup mauling to put a dent in league leaders Tomatin’s title hopes with a thrilling 4-2 victory in Tuesday nights David Ritchie and Sons, Strathspey and Badenoch welfare League encounter.

Carr-bridge, who went into the game without goalkeeper and manager Gordie MacDonald, and with keeping deputy and brother Scott MacDonald suspended, were forced to play midfielder Gary Keogh between the posts. The home side did welcome back Dougie Edwards and Andrew Grantham to bolster the defence.

Carr-bridge began the game with a fairly quick tempo, but were matched by a determined Tomatin side who were out to increase their lead at the top of the table. The home side took the lead on 13 minutes when Forrest beat his marker and fed a great ball inside the full back to Tulloch. The speedy midfielder bore down on goal before prodding the ball square to Ian Grant who tapped the ball into an empty net 1-0.

Carr-bridge seemed to grow in confidence from this and looked dangerous every time they went forward. Zseledy almost increased the lead on 25 minutes when he swapped passes with Forrest and Ritchie before firing in a great shot from 25 yards which was only inches wide. Ritchie then tested the keeper with a vicious 30 yarder which brought a finger tip save out off Poupard in the Tomatin goal.

Despite Carr-bridge having all the pressure, the visitors should have equalised on 42 minutes when McKay headed over form 4 yards when completely unmarked. Carr-bridge responded again and terrific deep cross from Cormack found Grant free at the back post, this time however the veteran marksman was unable to keep his header down. HT 1-0

Tomatin were straight out the blocks at the beginning of the second half, and certainly caught the home side on the hop. It was no real surprise that they drew level on 57 minutes, when Forbes strode onto a lose ball to fire a screamer high to the keeper’s left. 1-1. Moments later only a terrific goal line clearance from Cormack kept the home side level as Tomatin were going for the kill.

It was Carr-bridge’s turn to respond this time and Grant was unfortunate not to test the keeper when he battled hard after Wilkinson had put him through on goal. The home side regained the lead on 63 minutes when Ritchie chased a flick from Forrest, Poupard looked certain to win the race to the ball before the Carr-bridge youngster upped the pace to charge down the clearance. Fortunately for the home side the ball ran kindly for Ritchie and he had the simple task of tapping the ball into the empty net. 2-1.

The game was now swinging form end to end and only some frantic defending by Edwards, Grantham and Cormack denied Tomatin in a frenzied goalmouth scramble. With 15 minutes remaining Tomatin grabbed an equaliser, out of nothing. Carr-bridge seemed to have dealt with a deep corner only for Irvine to swivel on the edge of the box, and although his shot lacked pace it was perfectly placed and crept just inside the post. 2-2

Tomatin were now going all out for the winner, Mckay turned his marker on the right but his delightful cross evaded his team mates. The same player was then denied by a goal mouth clearance from Edwards, with keeper beaten. Carr-bridge weren’t lying down however, and a frantic finish saw them grab two late goals and both the points. On 86 minutes a quickly taken corner from Forrest caught the visitors defence napping, as Zseledy rose to bullet a header which crashed off the underside of the bar and into the net. 3-2.

Tulloch completed the scoring in the dying moments with the goal of the night. There seemed to be little trouble as the midfielder was pushed very wide to the right by the defender, out of nowhere however he turned and fired in a rocket shot from a tight angle which flew across the keeper and high into the opposite corner. Tulloch was quite rightly mobbed by his team mates, who knew they had won the game.

All in all a great battle between two determined sides

Carr-bridge MOM: Cormack

Scorers: Grant. Ritchie, Zseledy, Tulloch

Team: Keogh, Cormack, Wilkinson, Edwards, Grantham, Tulloch, Ritchie, Zseledy, Gordon, Forrest, Grant

Subs: A.Campbell (for Grant)
Not used: None

Booked: None
Sent off: None

Half-time: 1-0