Sutherland and Brora Rangers fight for Highlands and Islands League Cup semi final place in county derby
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Sutherland will tackle Brora Rangers in the quarter finals of the Highlands and Islands League Cup at Helmsdale on Sunday.
Both teams will be looking for a morale boosting result by making it into the semi finals of the competition after suffering disappointing starts to the season.
Sutherland suffered their second defeat of the league season when they lost 4–3 at Buckie Ladies.
Sutherland found themselves 4–0 down at Buckpool after 74 minutes as Buckie looked to be cruising to victory.
But the visitors launched a stunning fightback which almost saw them steal a point.
Katie Grant pulled one back for Sutherland in the 78th minute when she was first to react to a rebound from a shot which hit the post to fire it into the net.
Franci Hutchison then scored two minutes later to reduce the deficit to two.
The Lochinver woman found the net again three minutes from time as Sutherland pressured Buckie’s defence in search for an equaliser, but the hosts held on for all three points.
Brora have still to find their first point and goal of the campaign, but produced their best performance of the season as they lost 4–0 to champions Inverness Caledonian Thistle Development.
In their last three games, Brora Rangers have conceded 20 goals and yet to find the net.
But manager Keiran Bellis says last weekend Brora Rangers showed definite improvement and will go into Sunday’s clash full of optimism they can find the net and try and get a positive result.
“It will be a significant challenge and it is part of our development journey to improve our performances and we will see what we can get out of it.
“Last weekend we had a stronger team than we had in the previous two matches.
“It was a good performance against Inverness and a lot to take out of the game.
“The result flattered Inverness but I was pleased with how we played overall.”
The match is scheduled to kick off at Couper Park at 2pm.
In the other quarter finals, Clachnacuddin face Caithness, Inverness tackle Kirkwall and Orkney take on Buckie.
