Category Archives: Youth Reports

Scottish Youth Cup

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Fort William U19′s 0 v 2 Falkirk U19′s

Fort William went out of the Scottish Youth Cup against First Division Falkirk but they can hold their heads high after a performance that saw them more than match their first division opponents in every facet of the match apart from putting the ball in the net.

It was Falkirk who started the brighter, hitting the post in only the second minute before a Brisbane effort was cleared of the line by Lewis Campbell.  Liam Dick opened the scoring for the visitors in the 13th minute before Steven Brisbane doubled their lead, firing home from distance in 24 minutes.

The home side began to come into the game and it took a great diving save from Graham Bowman to deny Iain Maclellan in the 35 minutes and the keeper went one better just before half time with a breathtaking stop to deny the same player, this time pushing his effort on to the crossbar.

The Fort came out for the second half all guns blazing and if it wasn’t for a man of the match performance from the Falkirk keeper they surely would have got something out of the game.

Maclellan fired just wide before the visiting centre half Turnbull turned Ray Munro’s great cross over the bar.  It was then Logan Barker’s turn to be denied by Bowman before he thwarted Maclellan once more

Next up was Raymond Munro who saw his effort was blocked by Bowman before Lewis Corbett proceeded to fire the rebound wide.  The fact that Jamie Mone in the home goal didn’t have a save to make in the second half summed up the home sides domination

They may have went out of the cup but coaches John Matheson and Paul Maclellan can be proud of their charges work on the field in front of Falkirk manager Steven Pressley and veteran coach Alex Smith.

Fort William: Jamie Moan, Keiran Lopez, Lewis Campbell, Ian Foggo, Farquhar Macrae, Andy Maclean, Jordan Macphee (Martin Munro 65), Alex Whittaker (Lewis Corbett 46), Logan Barker, Iain Maclellan, Raymond Munro Subs  Paddy Coal, Steven Lopez, Bradley Cameron

Falkirk: Graham Bowman, Liam Rowan, Liam Dick (Lee Hamilton 83), Jamie Barclay, Kyle Turnbull, Craig Comrie, Steven Brisbane, Kris Faulds, Ryan Miller, Thomas Grant, Connor Kelly (Connor McGrandles 70) Subs: Connor McCormick

Broro U15′s 4 v 11 Fort U15′s

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Brora got off to a good start pushing the Fort back for the opening minutes but without creating any scoring opportunities. The Forts first attack however did result in the opening goal when the ball broke to Aaron Sandison who crashed home from the edge of the box. This was to be the turning point and the young Fort team took command of the game with the midfield creating numerous chances without breaching the Brora defense. That was until the 19th minute when Fraser Cameron, making an eventful debut, struck well from the corner of the box to make it 2-0 to the Fort. Within 3 minutes Cameron MacBeth got on the scoresheet with an opportunistic goal, Lewis Morrison (Lewmo) then tried his luck on 25 minutes with the Brora keeper pulling off an excellent save. Despite a few more chances for Fort William, Brora held on to leave the score at 3-0 to Fort William at the first break.

The Fort continued to dominate in the second period and in the 32nd minute a great through ball from Cameron MacBeth set up Fraser Cameron for his second and the Fort’s fourth. Brora then came back into the game and tried hard to get on the scoresheet, however resolute defending by the Fort, in particular Mike McLeod and Nico Scally, kept them at bay. In the 42nd minute Craig McIsaac eventually got the goal he deserved to put the Fort 5-0 up. With less than 15 minutes left in the second period Brora stormed back into the game, their first goal was a stunning strike from 25 yards out that flew into the bottom corner to make it 5-1, a penalty conceded by Lewis Simpson led to their second goal in the 50th minute and by the 56th minute Brora had scored 2 more goals to make it 5-4 for Fort William, and game on. The Fort soon restored their two goal advantage just before the break when a good cross from Aaron set up Craig for his second goal of the game leaving the score 6-4 for Fort William at the end of the second period.

The third period was tight until the 66th minute when Craig McIsaac broke through the Brora defense to score his third and the first hat trick scored by the under 15′s this season. Lewmo then got in on the scoring with a good strike from just inside the box to make it 8-4 for Fort William. Cameron then got his second with a well taken finish before Lewmo got his second to make it 10-4. Fraser Cameron’s eventful debut then came into play, first of all completing his hat trick and then receiving a straight red card from the referee for retaliation.
Overall a resounding win for the Fort especially after defeat at Wick in their last away game, the one downside of the game was the injury to the influential Shane Gillies who had to come off with a knee injury.

Ruaridh MacInnes
Lewis Simpson   Ronan Cameron  Nico Scally Mike McLeod
Aaron Sandison Craig McIsaac  Fraser Cameron Shane Gillies
Lewis Morrison
Cameron MacBeth

Subs
Innes Blackhall
James McDermott

Inverness City 2 V 6 Fort U17′s

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Fort William U-17s travelled to Inverness on Sunday and came away with a hard fought but deserved 6-2 win against newcomers Inverness City.

After 20 minutes gone and nothing between the teams, Fort striker Connor Wilson shot from just inside the box and the Inverness keeper produced an excellent save, however Kieron Voicey was on hand to follow up and slot the ball into the net to make it 1-0 to the Fort.

The goal helped the young Fort side to settle down and they started to pass the ball around a lot better and with more confidence, within a further 10 minutes winger A. MacLellan “Mackie” put in a quality ball from out wide which found Kieron Voicey to calmly finish to make the score 2-0. With good crosses coming from both wingers Fort should have been ahead by more at half time but brave defending by the Inverness back four kept them in the game.

The second half started with the Fort on the front foot and within 10 minutes they gained themselves a corner, midfielder Alex Whittaker rose highest and got in front of his marker to header home to make it 3-0 to the Fort.

Inverness started to push for their first goal and after several chances and excellent saves from keeper Bradley Cameron Inverness got their deserved goal. Again Fort got back to their passing game and from another good ball in from wide, Marty Munro took the ball first time to finish well and make the score 4-1.Inverness again showed their spirit and a few minutes later and a good strike from their striker they brought the score to 4-2.

Having made a few changes Fort were pushing for another goal and it was Sean Noble who managed to get Fort’s last two goals, the first being good positioning to follow up an Andy MacLean strike which was well saved by the keeper and slotting home the second as he got on the end of a quality ball in from Marty Munro on the wing.

The game finished with Inverness having a couple of half chances and one brilliant save by keeper Cameron, this brought the game to a finish at 6-2 and another good win for the young Fort team.

Overall a good team performance from all the boys who were made to work hard for their win.The younger boys who have came up from the under 15s squad have done very well and are well supported by the older boys helping them along with plenty of encouragement. The strikers got their reward for plenty running and hard work aligned with the wingers contributing well with good balls into the box. Man of the match was Martin Munro again who time after time delivered quality balls into the box. Also Alex Whittaker had another strong performance in midfielder where he dominated play and also got on the score sheet as well.

Inverness City 5 v 5 Fort U15′s

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The match started with the Fort on the back foot being pushed back by a determined City side, City took the lead from a corner in the 3rd minute which was not dealt with by the Fort defence allowing an easy tap in for the City striker. The visitors quickly got into their stride after the early setback and a 25 yard thunderbolt from Fort captain Lewis Morrison got the

Shane Gillies

Lochaber boys back level.The Fort kept the pressure on City forcing 2 corners in a row, the second of which, crossed in by Shane Gillies, resulted in an easy tap in for centre back Craig McIsaac to make the score 2-1. The Fort continued piling on the pressure but the City defence resolutely held them out. In the 21st minute a misplaced pass in midfield led to an unstoppable 20 yard strike from a City midfielder which nestled in the top left corner to make the score 2-2.

The second period saw Mike MacLeod replacing Ronan Cameron and Lewis Rydings for Shane Gillies and they continuosly pressed the home side back in their own half but try as they might they couldn’t get the goal their overall play deserved. An injury to Craig McIsaac in the 50th minute saw the reintroduction of Shane Gillies on the left hand side of midfield. With 6 minues left in the second period, the game sprang to life with 4 goals in the space of 6 minutes, in the 54th minute another poorly defended corner led to City’s 3rd goal, 3 minutes later a great through ball from Shane Gillies set up Cameron MacBeth to equalise for the Fort, calmly slipping the ball past the onrushing City keeper, 3-3. The Fort were still celebrating the equaliser when a long punt upfield deceived Nico Scally, playing at centre back due to the injury to Craig McIsaac, which allowed the City striker a clear run on goal which he promptly dispatched to make the score 4-3 for City. The action and drama didn’t stop there for this period as the Fort equalised once again following a good run by Aaron Sandison who set up Cameron MacBeth for his second cool finish of the game 4-4.

The third period was a very closely contested affair with both sides spurning chance to take the lead. In the 65th minute a  rare defensive lapse by Lewis Simpson played 3 City boys onside allowing them to take the lead 5-4. The Fort responded really well pressing the home side back and eventually got their 3rd equaliser on 76 minutes, when another defence splitting pass from Shane Gillies found Lewis Rydings on the edge of the CIty box , Lewis struck the ball sweetly into the bottom left corner to make the score 5-5. The Fort had a couple of half chances to win the game in the closing minutes but couldn’t quite find the net again.

Lachlan Veitch, Innes Blackhall and Mike MacLeod made their debuts in this game and showed that they will be vital members of the Fort squad and team over the remainder of the season.

A good second outing for the Fort youngsters, overall a draw was probably the correct result as both sides played some attractive football with neither side deserving to lose an eventful and exciting game.

Man of the match was shared by Lewis Morrison , Lachlan Veitch and Nico Scally

Team: Ruaridh MacInnes, Lewis Simpson,  Craig McIsaac,  Ronan Cameron,  Nico Scally,  Lachlan Veitch, Lewis Morrison, Innes Blackhall, Aaron Sandison, Cameron MacBeth, Shane Gillies

Subs; Mike MacLeod, Lewis Rydings

Dingwall U17′s 0 v 4 Fort William U17′s

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Fort William U-17′s travelled away to Dingwall Thistle U-17′s last Sunday and continued their impressive start to the season to return with a hard fought 4-0 victory against a well organised side who are a welcome addition to the Highland League.

Fort William anticipated a very hard match against a Dingwall Thistle side that had just finished as champions of the Ross-Shire junior league and were represented by several players who had experience within the Ross County Academy system. It was a very tight match until the Fort finally broke them down in the final period of the game.

The Fort started brightly and pressed Dingwall from the very first whistle to put them off their stride as Fort imposed themselves on the game at this early stage. After only 10 minutes a cross from wide midfielder Aaron MacPhee was punched clear by the Dingwall keeper for the ball to fall at the feet of Martin Munro who hit it on the half volley from fully 30 yards and the ball soared over the despairing hands of the Dingwall keeper to land in the bottom corner of the net for a early 1-0 lead.

The trickery of winger Munro was causing problems to the Dingwall defence as he set up the Fort strikers of Connor Wilson and Sean Noble on several occasions but excellent goalkeeping kept the score to a slender 1-0 lead as the first period came to an end.

Early in the second period Munro beat several players to reach the bye line to cut the ball back for the on-rushing Wilson who bravely evaded the strong challenge from the Dingwall defender to connect with the ball and it flew into the bottom corner of the net and a deserved 2-0 lead. Strong defending from Keiran Lopez and Liam MacLean in the centre of defence  made sure any efforts that Dingwall created were restricted to long range efforts and comfortably ended up in the arms of goalkeeper Bradley Cameron. The second period ended with Fort comfortably leading 2-0 but an early goal from Dingwall could certainly change this.

In the final period the game became stretched and Fort began to dominate play as they passed and retained the ball excellently. From a resultant corner the hard working Cameron Grant in midfield was rewarded as he was first to the ball to stab it home and effectively finish the game at 3-0. A further set piece in the final 5 minutes was met by the head of captain Andy McLean who powered the ball high into the net and a final score of 4-0 to the Fort.

Overall, an excellent result against a well organised Dingwall side who have played together competitively in other leagues. Fine performances from all players as Keiran Lopez and Liam McLean were excellent in defence and were ably supported by Cameron Melrose. Debutant Cameron Grant had a strong performance in the middle of the park and Martin Munro put in another excellent performance again. 3 man of the match performances in a row from the ever improving Munro.

Team: B.Cameron, A.McLean, C.Melrose, Liam McLean, K.Lopez, M.Munro, A.MacPhee, C.Grant, A.McLean, C.Wilson, S.Noble, A.MacLellan, Lewis McLean, R.Clark.

Reporter: John Matheson

Fort William U17′s 4 v 1 Forres U17′s

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Fort William U-17′s welcomed Forres to Claggan Park for their first home fixture of the season and continued their fine start to the season with a commanding 4-1 win.

Straight from the whistle Fort started on the front foot and excellent crosses were delivered into the box from wide men Martin Munro and Jordan MacPhee but they were bravely defended and cleared by the Forres defence.

The pressure continued and striker Connor Wilson ran onto a through ball from Martin Munro but the Forres keeper remained calm and dived at the strikers feet to thwart the attack.However, after 15 minutes Connor Wilson returned the favour by passing to the on-rushing Martin Munro who strode into the box and tucked the ball into the bottom corner for a deserved 1-0 lead. Fort continued to press but were unable to add to their early lead and the first period came to an end with a 1-0 scoreline.

Fort started the second period in a similar vein and were rewarded from a resultant corner as Andy McLean rose at the back post to power home a header for a 2-0 advantage. During this period Forres were more committed and tenacious but were unable to trouble the Fort defence which was being well marshalled by the improving Keiran Lopez. The Fort strikers tested the Forres keeper on numerous occasions but excellent goalkeeping maintained the score at 2-0 as the second period came to an end.

Andy Maclean

At the very start of the final period Andy McLean collected the ball in the Forres box and as he twisted and turned, the Forres defender brought him down for a penalty. Andy McLean picked himself up and duly scored the penalty for his fourth goal in two games to make the score 3-0.

With the scoreline seemingly beyond Forres, the Fort added a fourth goal from another corner as a cleared header found Keiran Lopez at the edge of the box and he powered the ball through a mass of players high into the net and a lead of 4-0.

Forres got a consolation goal in the dying minutes as a quick free kick caught out the Fort defence as the ball flew over the wall and into the top corner, Bradley Cameron in the Fort goal then brought off an excellent save to bring the game to an end and a final score 4-1 to the Fort.

Overall, another fine performance from the young Fort side as they restricted Forres to minimum efforts on goal and ably supported by the impressive Martin Munro whose delivery of the ball created problems all afternoon for the Forres defence.

Fort’s next game is away to Dingwall on Sunday 28th August.

Team: B.Cameron, C.Melrose, L.McLean, C.Boyd, K.Lopez, M.Munro, J.MacPhee, A.Whittaker, A.McLean, C.Wilson, A.MacLellan, S.Noble, A.McLean, Liam McLean, R.Clark.