Manager praises phenomenal Brora Rangers to win North of Scotland Cup
STEVEN Mackay praised the ruthlessness of his team as Brora Rangers ran riot to thrash Clachnacuddin 6-1 and lift the North of Scotland Cup.
The Cattachs were in dominant form as they scored three times in each half as they blew the Lilywhites away at Station Park in Nairn.
Brora Rangers won the trophy for the ninth time in their history and it was the seventh time they have claimed the trophy since 2013.
They took the lead after three minutes when Shane Sutherland opened the scoring before Tony Dingwall doubled their advantage on the half hour mark.
Sutherland made it 3-0 nine minutes before half time when he connected with a cross from James Wallace on the left wing before firing a low drive past Joe Malin.
Any chance of a Clachnacuddin comeback was killed off three minutes after the interval when Colin Williamson headed home a Dingwall cross.
Sutherland then completed his hat-trick in the 59th minute to make it 5-0 as he headed home a Tom Kelly cross. Two minutes later, Craig Mackenzie then latched on to a pass from Sutherland to find the net to make it 6-0.
Clachnacuddin did grab a consolation when Lewis Mackenzie scored in injury time.
Mackay said it was a phenomenal result, but always felt that it was one that they were capable of achieving.
He said: “Clach had been on a decent run for sure in the league and were in sixth place.
“But we always felt if they performed the way that they can then we could give them a lot of problems.
“That is the way that it transpired. We felt that there were a few areas that we could exploit and we turned up on the day. “We outworked them and nullified them in that aspect of the game.
“We shined and it was one of those days where we were breathtaking going forward. It was phenomenal.”
The most pleasing aspect for Mackay was despite being 3-0 up at half time, Brora didn’t let up in front of goal as they scored three more. He said the management team are trying to build a ruthless mentality into the squad.
He said: “We have tried to instill that into the boys since we have come in as I don’t like it when the boys let up.
“We always felt the game was out of Clach’s grasp, but I felt it was important we solidified that at the start of the second half in the same way we started the first.
“We got three goals in the space of 15 minutes, it finished the game off and we could have added to it.
“But the boys were ruthless on the day and I want to see more of that when we are in that commanding position that we make sure we capitalise on it.”
Mackay was also delighted that Sutherland grabbed a hat-trick in the final.
The former Caley Thistle striker has only recently returned to action after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury in May 2022.
He said: “It was like it was written in the stars for him. I just had a feeling that Shane was going to do something special.
“He deserves it and it is nice in football that when people have huge setbacks like he did, he came through it and kicked it off with a cup final hat-trick. To have his son there too, I was delighted for him.”
Brora Rangers will look to continue their good form when they face Formartine United in the Scottish Cup second round at Dudgeon Park tomorrow afternoon.
Mackay said: “They are a direct side and they play to their strengths. they had a sticky spell at the start of the season.
“ They are on a good run so we are aware of the threats they pose, but we need to build on last week’s performance.
“With the exceptional performance from the cup final we need to take confidence from those kind of results.
“It will be a tricky game, but we know we can cause Formartine problems too.”
