Home   Sport   Article

Elgin City "miss opportunity" to pull off SPFL Trust Trophy shock as Inverness Caley Thistle bounce back to win


By Chris Saunderson

Easier access to your trusted, local news. Subscribe to a digital package and support local news publishing.



Click here to sign up to our free newsletters!

AN "opportunity missed" was how Elgin City manager Gavin Price summed up the 4-2 SPFL Trust Trophy defeat by Inverness Caley Thistle.

The league two side got off to a perfect start and led the Championship leaders 2-0 after 22 minutes after goals from Tim Grivosti and Brian Cameron.

Brian Cameron had put Elgin City into a 2-0 lead in the first half.
Brian Cameron had put Elgin City into a 2-0 lead in the first half.

However, veteran striker Billy McKay broke Elgin hearts with two goals in the space of 90 seconds before half-time to haul the visitors level.

And he completed a superb hat-trick with a low drive in the 67th minute before on-loan St Mirren striker Lewis Jamieson lobbed Tom McHale in to seal the win in the 72nd minute.

Elgin boss Price said: "It was an opportunity missed. I am pleased with how the players went about their business but we are kicking ourselves after being two goals ahead.

"To go 2-0 ahead we had something to hold on to but we lost two quick fire goals in each half.

"In the second half we have been quite positive and until they scored I don't think they threatened us too much. The game was in the balance.

"We are kicking ourselves because going 2-0 ahead was a real opportunity."

Grivosti, on loan from Caley's Highland rivals Ross County thundered in a close range header from Archie MacPhee's ninth minute corner to give Elgin a shock but deserved lead.

And when Cameron lashed the ball into the roof of the net from 12 yards, after good play by Conor O'Keefe in the 22nd minute, City fans were dreaming of a place in the last eight of the competition.

The Elgin fans in the 1348 crowd were jubilant and the home side were well worth their lead.

However, Caley started to show their Championship class and McKay rattled in a great left foot effort in 38 minutes and inside two minutes he pounced to head home from close range.

Inverness started the second half on the front foot but Elgin regained some composure and MacPhee almost put them ahead again on the hour mark when his fierce shot was saved by Cameron McKay.

Elgin goalscorer Brian Cameron said: "We are a bit gutted because we had a chance. To be 2-0 up and lose 4-2 is a tough one to take.

"We have got to take the positives into the league games.

"Inverness are a good team and move the ball really well, and all credit to them as they deserved to win."

Inverness hat-trick hero McKay said: “I thought we were playing well and they caught us on the break twice but fair play to the lads, we stuck at it and created good chances. In the end we probably could have won by more.”

“They made a tie out of it which was great for the fans. We showed great character to come back and get the four goals."

Inverness CT coach Barry Wilson, a former Elgin City manager, added: “We played a lot of good stuff in the first half but two bad mistakes and we were 2-0 down. We felt we were playing well enough and at a good tempo so the chances were going to come.

“The 10-15 minutes before half-time was huge. They gave us everything and had to work really hard."

Elgin: McHale, Spark, MacPhee (Peters 85), McHardy, Grivosti, Mailer, R Dingwall, Cameron, O’Keefe (Machado 58), MacEwan (Allen 75), T Dingwall (Sopel 75)

Subs not used: Cooney, Lawrence, Little.

Inverness CT: C McKay, Duffy, Harper (Allardice 49), Welsh, Deas, Devine (Doran 75), B McKay, Sutherland (Duku (75), MacGregor, Jamieson, McAlear.

Sub not used: Ridgers.

Referee: Barry Cook

Att: 1348


Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.



This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies - Learn More