Tain Thistle 1-4 Inver
In a ragged encounter tonight, Tain Thistle's hopes of retaining the Ross-shire Welfare league fell apart at the seams as they fell to their second defeat of the campaign, losing once again to local rivals, Inver. The list of scorers for the victors read like a "Who's Who" of Tain Thistle's 09/10 winter eleven, with Martin Smith, Chris Mailley, Ashley Mills and Andrew Durrand all netting for the visitors.<br /><br />Inver would certainly have been the happier of the two teams to see their opponents, holding an aggregate score of 11-3 in their favour this season, across three cup competitions. This, their first league meeting (aside from the postponed match in May) would prove to be no different.<br /><br />Returning from holiday, manager Arron Christie brought a near full-strength Tain team onto the park, with Andrew Sutherland, Liam Rostock, Martyn Farquhar and the manager himself all returning to first team action.<br /><br />Inver took the lead during a frenetic first half; tall striker Martin Smith breaking free to score. The young forward struck the ball with power, leaving Steven Martin with little to no chance of reaching the shot at his far post.<br /><br />Thistle were undeterred however, as they found the net soon after -- Liam Rostock heading in a rebound from close range to make it 1-1.<br /><br />The game took an ugly turn shortly before the break however when Martin Smith and Arron Christie became engaged in a physical battle. Referee Keith Middleton showed no hesitance in dismissing both players.<br /><br />Thistle struggled more to cope with the loss of their centre half than Inver did losing the forward Smith and soon the difference became apparent as Ashley Mills had lashed a shot beyond Martin to make it 2-1. <br /><br />Rostock should have been credited with his second midway through the second half as he finished a clever through ball from Garry Perks, but the referee with his back to play adjudged the player to be offside, disallowing the goal for Tain.<br /><br />Inver got the break of the ball for a third to make the score academic when Chris Mailley found the net. His daisycutting effort flew in from 20 yards with Martin helpless to prevent it.<br /><br />The Jags defence all-at-sea, former Tain man Andrew Durrand rounded off the scoring for a much more organised Inver side, as he placed a ball beyond Martin following an error-laden episode involving the Thistle back line.<br /><br />The loss spells bad news for Thistle as a draw between Balintore and Alness Athletic sees the former, their nearest rivals Balintore pull further away. While the league title is not an impossibility, the uphill struggle ahead will certainly be difficult. In other action, Dingwall Vertex beat Social Club 5-2, while Cromarty continued their good run of form with a 2-1 win over Ross-shire Club.<br /><br /><b>Team:</b><br />Martin, Cowie (Farquhar), Rice, Sutherland, A Christie, Brand (Maclellan), Farquhar, Goller, Rostock, Perks, Ross <br /><br /><b>Subs not used:</b><br />Johnston, Matheson, C Nimmons<br /><br /><b>Goals</b><br />Rostock 38<br /><br /><b>Bookings:</b><br />Maclellan<br /><br /><b>Red Cards:</b><br />Arron Christie<br /><br /><b>Match details:</b><br /><a href="http://www.tainthistle.co.uk/matchdetails.php?id=398">http://www.tainthistle.co.uk/matchdetails.php?id=398</a>