Turriff Thistle knocked out of Aberdeen FC Trophy
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Turriff Thistle 1 Tolbooth 3 (after extra-time)
Turriff Thistle’s cup campaigns for the season came to an end at The Haughs on Saturday with a defeat at the hands of Premier Division Tolbooth.
However, the Jags should have had the third round Aberdeen FC Trophy tie done and dusted within the 90 minutes as they had the majority of possession throughout the match and created so many scoring chances that were not converted due to the lack of composure and an inspiring performance by the Tolbooth keeper.
A 0-0 scoreline after 90 minutes saw the match head into extra-time but Thistle were sucker punched and conceded two goals in two minutes during the first period.
The Jags pulled one back through Dylan Buxton straight from the second period kick-off but fell two behind again from a long range curling shot that looped into the top corner.
They fought hard until the final whistle but could not close the gap in the time remaining.
With Monday and Wednesday midweek fixtures a possibility manager Matthew Sim made a few changes to his starting line-up.
Mike McCombie returned to the back four in place of the injured Kian Beaton together with Ryan Catto and Glen Morrison and Callan Reid moved to left back with Steven Wight rested on the bench.
With Reid moving back Lee Stuart started in midfield alongside Joe Bisset and Michael Harris and Bruce Mair came into the front three to partner Regan Fowlie and Nathan Fraser with Dylan Buxton rested on the bench as well.
In addition to Wight and Buxton, the Jags bench included Ryan Morrison, Callum Lynch, new signing Keiren Liddell and the returning Dan Bruce.
Thistle pushed forward straight from the kick-off and on three minutes Mair slipped the ball to Fowlie on his left but his low diagonal shot was well saved, then, on five minutes Mair had a go himself from distance which was again saved.
The Jags maintained this opening pressure and on seven minutes a Harris cross from the right was met in the middle by Bisset on the volley but the ball shot past the post.
Tolbooth hit back on 11 minutes when a fierce shot from the edge of the box was parried by Ogg but the big keeper was up quickly to block the second shot from the rebound for a corner.
This was turning into a lively cup tie and a minute later a Bisset cross from the right was picked up by Fraser in the middle but his turn and shot flew narrowly past the post.
Thistle were playing some crisp, positive football and pushed forward relentlessly.
On 19 minutes it was Fowlie’s turn to fire in a cross from the right for Harris to blast a shot just over the bar.
The best chance for the Jags came on 26 minutes when Mair was put through on the keeper but he went for power and shot over.
Thistle kept control of the match but their Premier Division opponents were still dangerous and on 35 minutes a long shot required Ogg’s full attention as he saved low at the post.
The first casualty of the day came on 38 minutes when Reid was forced to call it a day with a hamstring problem and was replaced by Bruce.
The Jags continued to probe at the Tolbooth defence and the final action of the half came when another Bisset effort from the edge of the box again was well saved by the keeper.
The second half continued in a similar vein but Tolbooth had organised their defence to counter the Thistle pressure.
The Jags made their next substitutions on the hour mark with Buxton and Lynch coming on for Mair and Stuart.
The fresh legs made their mark quickly when, on 64 minutes, they linked up with Fowlie to carve their way through Tolbooth on the left but the final shot was blocked at the expense of a corner then, a couple of minutes later, Lynch laid the ball off to Harris who rifled his effort past the post.
Thistle did not let up and on 68 minutes Buxton crossed from the left for Harris to hit a rising shot that the keeper punched to safety.
The Jags were unlucky not to go ahead on 73 minutes when another Harris shot from the edge of the box was deflected by a defender into the path of McCombie on the left-hand side of the box whose net-bound shot was brilliantly saved at full stretch by the on-form Tolbooth keeper.
Tolbooth had a similar clear-cut chance on 77 minutes when they burst through the Jags defence on the left but their shot was solidly blocked by the equally on-form Ogg.
Thistle made a final change on 80 minutes when Liddell made his debut in place of Fraser.
With the game heading for extra-time both teams raised their games in search of a winner.
On 84 minutes Bisset flighted a free-kick deep into the Tolbooth box but McCombie directed his header over the bar.
Tolbooth came close to winning it on 88 minutes when they burst through on the left wing and the cut-back was directed past Ogg and the ball was rolling in at the back post until Harris appeared from nowhere to boot it to safety.
The first period of extra time began with the Jags keeping the tempo going and Fowlie saw his header from a Harris cross well saved low at the post then a deflected shot from Bisset fell to Buxton whose snap-shot rolled towards the net but nicked off the outside of the post.
After all the Thistle pressure Tolbooth went ahead on 96 minutes when they powered down the left and the low cross was driven into the middle and smashed into the net.
The Jags went further behind a minute later when a corner dropped into the six-yard box and a Tolbooth boot was first to make contact and poke the ball into the corner of the net.
Tolbooth could have gone further ahead with a shot from the edge of the box but Ogg managed a brilliant save to deny them.
Despite being two down Thistle showed their character and continued to fight hard to get back into the game.
A final chance before the interval saw the Tolbooth keeper bring off another fine save from a Harris header after a Bisset cross.
The Jags were back in the game straight from the second period kick-off when Bruce drove down the right, cut in and smacked a low shot across the keeper that he could only parry into the path of Buxton for a simple tap-in into the empty net.
Thistle’s search for an equaliser was short lived, however, when, a couple of minutes later, Tolbooth restored their two-goal advantage with a 30-yard looping shot from the right hand side that soared over everyone and agonisingly dropped into the top left hand corner of the Jags net.
Tolbooth could easily have gone further ahead when another rocket of a shot was heading for the top corner but Ogg amazingly clawed the ball away, with one hand, at full stretch.
Although time was running out and Tolbooth were wasting every second they could the Jags still battled on until the end and a final shot by Fowlie from a Harris cross was saved by the keeper’s feet.
This was a really impressive, attacking performance by Thistle, however, creating two dozen scoring chances and converting one does not win football matches and this conversion ratio will need to increase drastically over the remaining nine league games in order to secure First Division football next season, especially with the possibility of playing three matches in a week.
