Missed chances cost Loch Ness place in Football Times Cup final after Thurso defeat
Shane Carling was left wondering if the occasion of playing in the Football Times Cup semi final for the first time got to his Loch Ness players last weekend.
Carling had called Saturday’s match the biggest in the club’s history in the build up, but Loch Ness lost 2–0 to Thurso.
A poor decision in defence proved costly for the first goal, while luck played a part in the second as goalkeeper Michael Miele’s attempted punch clear saw the ball cannon back off his own player’s head and into the net.
Going forward, meanwhile, they were frustrated by a string of impressive saves from Thurso’s goalkeeper.
“They wanted it more, that was the difference between the two teams,” Carling said.
“We had chance after chance and just never put the ball in the back of the net.
“Last year the season got split, and with all the Covid stuff it didn’t feel the same.
“This season everyone is back together again, it was a semi final and a chance for us to get to a final in our first proper season – it was a good opportunity for us, but we didn’t take our chances.
“If we took our chances we would have won the game. Well done to Thurso, they came up with a gameplan, the stuck to it and worked hard and scored the goals.
“That’s it, if you don’t score goals you won’t win games, so fair play to them and all the best to them in the final.”
Loch Ness have set high standards so far this season, winning all but one of their league matches so far.
They were favourites going into last Saturday’s match, but Carling was surprised at the lack of leadership in his dressing room.
He would have liked to see his squad be more vocal after going behind, to show the desire that it takes to reach a cup final. However, with their cup journey now over Carling will now turn his focus back to the league.
“The luck just didn’t go our way,” he reasoned.
“When your keeper punches the ball and it goes in off your own player’s head, that just shows you the luck is on their side.
“To be honest though, it was probably still our worst performance of the season.
“The boys were just quiet, you would never have thought that was a cup semi final the way our players reacted.
“I was quite surprised, they were quiet in the changing room at half time.
“I don’t know if the semi final got to them, but we will move on to the match next week, that’s all we can do.”