Thistle's great performance not enough

Greenock 6 Forres Thistle 1

Forres Thistle bowed out of the Scottish Junior Cup with a performance that could well have earned them a victory in a league encounter. The Jags saw an early penalty saved, two efforts cleared off the line and they struck the bar in a match that, while they would not have won, was a lot closer than the scoreline suggests.

The Jags had a great chance to open the scoring in the tenth minute when T Jamieson felled Phil Robinson in the box. Callum Gemmell took the responsibility from the spot kick but having gone for placement over power he was thwarted by the flying Monk.

Just two minutes later Forres were behind. A ball in from the left from J Bickley was hammered home by R Hearns, firing the ball just inside the right hand post. Greenock were now on top and John Boyd twice went close with headers.

The second goal arrived on the 25th minute when a high ball to the far post was headed home by T Docherty. R Hearns then crashed a shot off the bar on the half hour mark before Thistle began to show that they too were a threat.

A Sam Lawson free kick skimmed over the crossbar as the visitors became accustomed to the wide open spaces on this artificial surface that carries the same dimensions as Hampden Park.

Greenock didn’t need to adjust and they were to show a clinical edge that saw them add a goal either side of half time to clinch their progress. John Boyd’s incisive pass was knocked low past Simon Bremner by J Bickley to make it three nil at the break and then five minutes into the second half Boyd crossed for T Docherty to head home his second of the game.

The Jags then took a grip of the game and dominated the next twenty minutes. A Matty Milne cross was turned goalwards by Donnie McCulloch but full back M Orr hooked the ball off the line.

It was 4-1 when a perfectly weighted pass from Charlie Beck gave John Ross a sight of goal and he placed his shot into the far corner from 18 yards with unerring accuracy. A Irvine was booked soon after for a foul on Beck as the Central Belt approach to killing the momentum was attempted.

However Forres continued to push Greenock back and Phil Robison very nearly added a second with an inswinging corner that was cleared off the line. Then came a Beck shot that was saved by M Monk.

The pressure was growing but in their efforts to play a passing game Forres were twice caught out. Carter and Hearns moved the score from 4-1 to 6-1 in clinical fashion. Still the Jags continued to play in a manner that suggested they were enjoying the match despite the scoreline.

Youngster Mark McPhee did well to beat his man and deliver the ball in for Phil Robinson who saw his effort come back off the bar. Then a shot from Callum Gemmell was saved by Monk as the game drew to a close.

Ian McLeod’s side will be looking to take the positives from this game into next week’s home match against New Elgin. It kicks off at 2pm at Logie Park.

Greenock: M Monk, M Orr, S Docherty, A Irvine, R Begley, R Hearns, T Docherty, T Jamieson (J McKenzie), J Carter, J Boyd (T Cairney), J Bickley (C McDermott) Subs:, , , K Pritchard, S Dallas

Forres Thistle: S Bremner, M Milne (M McPhee), D McCulloch, S Lawson, C Daley, C Beck, P Robinson, J Ross, S Roy, C Gemmell, A Stables (A Mackintosh) Subs: D McIvor