Turriff Thistle suffer third loss on the bounce
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FC Polska 3 Turriff Thistle 1
Turriff Thistle fell to a third defeat in a row at the hands of FC Polska at Sheddocksley in Aberdeen on Saturday.
Although they should have had the three points safe in their pocket by half-time as they ran the hosts ragged in the first 30 minutes.
The Jags took the lead midway through the first half through Dan Bruce but they allowed Polska to equalise two minutes after the restart.
The second half was a totally flat affair as Polska bullied Thistle throughout and completely put them off their game.
The hosts snatched the lead with five minutes left, although there was more than a touch of offside in the move.
The Jags pushed forward as time ran out looking for an equaliser, however, in added-on time a Polska shot from all of 40 yards screamed into the Thistle net to put the result beyond doubt.
With Joe Bisset and Kian Beaton both suspended, a few injuries and unavailability, several positional changes were forced on the depleted Thistle squad.
Mike McCombie moved to central defence alongside Neil Chapman with Regan Fowlie moving from midfield to right back and recent signing Joe Watson starting at left back.
Ryan Morrison partnered Mitchell Allan in the holding midfield roles, Mitchell Reid returned as a trialist in centre midfield with Dan Bruce and Bruce Mair on either side of him and Michael Harris made his first appearance of the season as the lone striker.
A meagre subs bench consisted of only Lewis Cheyne, Calum Anderson and the injured Greg Miazek who was there just to make up the numbers.
Thistle started at a breakneck pace and within three minutes Harris put Reid through on the Polska goal but the keeper was down quickly to save his low shot.
Play shifted to the other end and on five minutes a Polska cross from the right was driven across the Jags six-yard box and narrowly missed at the back post.
On 10 minutes an Allan through-ball slipped Bruce in behind the Polska defence but the keeper was out quickly to block his shot.
A long throw-in from Bruce on 12 minutes was headed into the air in the Polska box and, when the ball dropped, a scissor-kick from Reid was well saved by the keeper.
Thistle kept up the relentless pressure and on 19 minutes Reid put Bruce away on the left to hit the by-line and drive a low cross into the middle which was missed by both Harris and Mair.
On 23 minutes Polska eventually broke through the Thistle ranks but the final shot was brilliantly saved by Jordan Ogg for a corner.
Shortly after Allan skipped through the Polska back-line but saw his shot blocked by the keeper, however, Harris pounced on the rebound and drove in a second shot that was saved again.
The deadlock was finally broken a minute later when Reid powered through on the left to the by-line and his cut-back was blasted high into the net by Bruce to give the Jags a well-deserved lead.
This advantage lasted all of two minutes when Polska drove up the left-hand side and the final cross was volleyed into the Thistle net, at the near post, off the bar.
The equaliser forced the Jags to re-group for the final 10 minutes of the first half and the only scoring attempt before the interval came from a 30-yard effort by Watson which was well saved by the on-form Polska keeper.
The second half started in a sluggish manner with Polska attempting to put Thistle off their passing game both on and off the ball.
The game turned into a dour midfield battle with little action at either end, however, a Polska free kick from the left in 55 minutes was narrowly missed at the Jags back post.
A minute later Polska burst through the Thistle defence on the right but Ogg pulled off another sensational save.
He was on hand again on 63 minutes when he managed another save at full stretch from an angular shot from the left.
The Jags brought on Calum Anderson for Mair on 65 minutes to slot in at right back and allow Fowlie to move forward to his usual position wide on the right in order to stretch the Polska defence. Then three minutes later Greg Miazek replaced Reid in the centre of midfield.
Polska still held firm and denied Thistle every inch of space and stifled all their attempts to open the game up.
In 78 minutes Morrison drove in from the left but his powerful shot flew agonisingly past the back post.
As has happened in previous matches the Jags were hit with another sucker punch with only five minutes left on the clock when a Polska through-ball in the middle found a suspiciously offside player behind the Thistle defence, however, the referee waved play on and the striker rounded the advancing Ogg and slipped the ball into the empty net.
With the clock ticking down the Jags continued to push forward in search of an equaliser but Polska are experts at packing their defence and frustrating opponents.
The match was deep in added-on time when a Polska player tried a shot from all of 40 yards which absolutely rocketed into the top corner of the Thistle net before Ogg could even move.
There was barely time for the Jags to kick-off before the final whistle was blown.
