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Tain Thistle 0-0 Inver
<img class="imgright" align="right" alt="" src="http://www.tainthistle.co.uk/news/data/upimages/danielinver.jpg">Tain Thistle and Inver locked horns on the opening night of the Ross-shire Welfare league campaign, drawing a blank at both ends in an enjoyable match tonight.<br /><br />Thistle felt much more at home with first choice keeper Stevie Martin back in goal. A more familiar looking 4-4-2 saw Arron Christie and Keith Dingwall flanked by Martyn Farquhar and Andy Murray, with a central midfield of Daniel Christie and Michael Brand, wings occupied by Andy Durrand and James Rice, with a front two of power and pace, respectively named as Robbie Ross and Liam Rostock.<br /><br />Tain dominated from the outset, testing Inver keeper Henderson on the 5th minute when Daniel Christie's looping free kick found the head of winger Rice for a point blank effort. Henderson was up to the challenge, and again held well when Liam Rostock turned his marker to hit a confident strike on target.<br /><br />Thistle had numerous chances to take the lead and will have been disappointed to go in at the break without having scored; goalkeeper Stevie Martin having the quietest of first halves. Andy Durrand had the most clear cut chance of the first period, having been clean through on Henderson but his hesitance to shoot saw him dispossessed by David Calderwood.<br /><br />Unfortunately for Tain, momentum was lost when forward man Robbie Ross was forced to leave the field almost immediately after the restart when an ankle injury suffered in the first half worsened. Ross was replaced by debutant Mark Reid. Reid did well on his inclusion to open up play with an injection of pace, linking well with Rostock and attacking midfielder Daniel Christie on a number of occasions.<br /><br />Tain felt their heart in their mouth in the latter stages however as Inver hit the woodwork on the 80th minute; Martin only able to watch as the effort cannoned off the crossbar down onto the clearing foot of Keith Dingwall.<br /><br />Despite their dominance throughout, Tain could not find the elusive opener and the score remained at 0-0 until referee Gary McCarthy's full time whistle.<br /><br />The result leaves both Tain and Inver in the middle of the table after day one, with the other three results on tonight's card recording winners. Invergordon Social Club enjoyed a home win against Alness Athletic, Balintore eased past the Sutor and Ross-shire Club beat new boys Cromarty 2-1 in the Black Isle.<br /><br /><b>Team:</b><br />Martin, Murray, Farquhar (Austin 85), A Christie, Dingwall, Brand, D Christie, Durrand, Rice (Oliver 75), Rostock, Ross (Reid 50)<br /><br /><b>Man of the Match:</b><br />Daniel Christie
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Under 15s fall to Dingwall
Tain Juniors' Under 15 side fell 3-1 in their opening SWL Ross-shire League Game.<br /><br />A promising start from Tain Juniors encouraged Under 15s coach Robert Farquhar as the young boys went head to head with the league favourites. Front man Stuart Greenlees troubled Dingwall early on, as the home side struggled to deal with his pace.<br /><br />Dingwall settled into the game mid way through the first half and before long, found the net; scoring on the half mark to make it 1-0. Were it not for the woodwork, Tain may have equalized going into the break � Greenlees watching an effort hit off the post and another effort cleared off the line.<br /><br />The Juniors started well in the second half when Graeme Smart split the Dingwall defence apart for Greenlees to get his just reward with a brilliantly taken goal.<br /><br />At 1-1, the Juniors enjoyed a spell of possession and may have even taken the lead, but two late goals secured the win for the home side.<br /><br />The Under 15s now travel to Invergordon on Tuesday 5th May.
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Second phase of sponsored walk scheduled
The second phase of the Tain Thistle Sponsored Walk (the players' phase) has been scheduled for Sunday, May 10th, with a start time of 12pm.
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HMS Sutherland challenge Thistle in Homecoming Cup
<img class="imgright" align="right" alt="" src="http://www.tainthistle.co.uk/news/data/upimages/navy.jpg">This Saturday 2nd May, Tain Thistle will welcome naval vessel the HMS Sutherland for a friendly competition which will reward the winners with the first ever Homecoming Cup.<br /><br />HMS Sutherland is a Type 23 frigate of the Royal Navy. She is the thirteenth ship in the Duke class of frigates and is the third ship to bear the name, more than 200 years since the name was last used.<br /><br />A big thank you to Tain Sports who have kindly offered to sponsor the match ball for the game.<br /><br />The match will be played at Thistle's Grant Park home with a 1pm kick off.
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Thistle crash out of League Cup
Tain Thistle crashed out of the Ross-shire Welfare League Cup, falling at the first hurdle in their tie against local rivals Inver today.<br /><br />Significant absences made the difference with Thistle again forced into changes due to injury. Most notably, David Kinnear returned to the side for the first time in several years, becoming the fifth keeper to play for the club in as many games! Coming into the side also was Kyle Oliver, replacing the otherwise engaged Paul Cowie in midfield.<br /><br />Thistle seemed to be off to a good start, winning most of the possession in the first half, Arron Christie testing Inver keeper Ross Henderson with a free kick on 10 minutes. Referee Keith Middleton set the pace with an early yellow for Scott Innes in Inver colours for dissent.<br /><br />Despite early pressure from Tain, it was a well worked Inver corner which resulted in the first goal -- Tain resident Christy MacDonald powering a header past Kinnear to put Inver 1-0 ahead. Thistle barely had time to recover as pacey Greig Mitchell punished the Tain defence for a miscommunication, and curled his shot round Kinnear to make it 2-0.<br /><br />A switch in attacking approach released Daniel Christie down the wing to invigorate the Thistle threat and the change paid off ten minutes later when Robbie Ross was found by Christie for a point blank finish, sending the teams to the touchline at half time with a score of 2-1.<br /><br />In an incident you would only expect to see in EA Sports' FIFA 09, Lewis Ross of Inver instantly nullified the Thistle half time team talk with an audacious shot from the half way line, direct from Mitchell's kick off. The effort looped onto the reaching fingers of Kinnear, only to fall behind the keeper and into the net, increasing Inver's lead to 3-1!<br /><br />Thistle struggled to find the target throughout the second half, with their most notable chances coming from Andy Murray and Ross. Inver found time to add to their tally in the second half however, when substitute Russell Ferguson outran the Thistle defence to finish, in a solo effort which summed up Inver's comfortable lead.<br /><br />The defeat sends Thistle out of the League Cup, but serves as a dress rehearsal for Wednesday's league match against Inver, again at Grant Park. The report card will simply read: "Must do better".<br /><br /><b>Team:</b><br />Kinnear, Murray (Durrand 63), Farquhar, A Christie, Rice, Dingwall, D Christie, Brand, Oliver (Austin 86), Ross, Rostock (Nimmons 80)<br /><br /><b>Scorers:</b><br />Ross 35<br /><br /><b>Man of the Match:</b><br />Martyn Farquhar<br /><br />Detailed match stats: <a href="http://www.tainthistle.co.uk/tpl/match.php?id=182">http://www.tainthistle.co.uk/tpl/matchdetails.php?id=182</a><br /><br />Match gallery: <a href="http://www.tainthistle.co.uk/gallery/?level=album&id=28">http://www.tainthistle.co.uk/gallery</a>