NOS Cup Roundup – Semi Finals

ICT and Forres make the final

Inverness Caley Thistle went through to the final of the AJG Parcels North of Scotland Cup on the 11th September after the SPL side defeated Halkirk 1-0 at Harmsworth Park. A first half strike from Kyle Whyte was enough to take Duncan Shearer's side through to the final and over the balance of play the scoreline was probably a fair reflection of the evening.

The decisive moment of the match came in the 17th minute and it began with Liam Polworth's ball down the inside right channel which sent the pint sized Andrew Greig scampering in behind the Halkirk defence. He took full advantage of the opportunity to play the ball across the face of the six yard box and racing in was Kyle Whyte to slam the ball between the legs of Graham Williamson from close range.

The Halkirk keeper was on top form throughout the evening and he ensured the North Caley side remained in the game right to the end with some agile one-handed stops to prevent ICT from doubling their lead.

Halkirk should have levelled when Nigel Mackenzie fed the ball into the path of Grant McNab and he forced his way past two defenders to set up a one-on-one with young English stopper Ed Baldy, but having done so well up to that point McNab was only able to fire his shot straight into the midriff of the goalie.

At the other end Andrew Grieg forced yet another stunning stop when he cut inside and sent a curling shot towards the top corner only to see Williamson fling himself across goal to palm the ball away.

This lead to one final effort, in the 90th minute, with a shot deflecting off the back of an ICT defender and landing just wide of the goal as Halkirk looked to force a second successive penalty shoot out.

 

Forres Mechanics will play host to Inverness Caley Thistle at Mosset Park in the final after goals from Lee Fraser and Simon Allan saw them dispose of Nairn County in the other semi final.

The tourney's top marksman, Fraser fired home the opener just before the half hour mark and went close to adding his third consecutive double when he rattled the post with a header from a Ryan Green cross.  Forres killed off the game halfway through the second half when Fraser Bremner was felled in the penalty area and Simon Allan netted from the spot.