Paible
North Uist United vs Barra
North Uist United vs Southend
North Uist United 3 Southend 1
Southend put us under a fair bit of pressure in the early stages of the derby with their wingers getting a fair bit of joy against us. After creating a few chances they scored after some sloppy defending on our part. This led us to make an early change with Mark MacInnes coming on to replace young Alexander to add some experience to our back line. Neither team really created anything of note in the rest of the half but we could certainly feel the tide beginning to turn in our favour.
We decided to take Andrew on at half time to add some more killer instinct up top to try and capitalise on some of the good football we were playing. We certainly looked more dangerous from the restart and it wasn’t long before we got some reward. Angus MacIntosh pounced on a loose ball in the box to tap the ball in following a dangerous ball in from Calum MacDonald. From this point we were determined to get the three points and kept piling on the pressure. Eventually in the 84th minute we got the breakthrough with a moment of magic from Calum scoring a top corner screamer from 35 yards. Southend went close with a free kick shortly after this but in the 91st minute Andrew made sure of all three points when he beat his defender and got his shot away. The keeper saved but could only parry the ball into the path of the on rushing Andrew who had a tidy finish. 3-1 is how the game finished.
To summarise; it was a rather scrappy and tight game that either team could’ve won but we managed to edge it in the key moments to ensure we got our first points of the season on the board.
MOTM: Mark, he came on against one of the most dangerous opposing players and completely nullified his threat. He gave us all a lesson on how to win the ball hard but fair.
Hopefully we can build some momentum now and keep the positive results coming for the rest of the season. Next game is Saints away on Thursday evening.
Many thanks for your valued support
Fraser
North Uist United vs Eriskay (Summer Cup)
North Uist United 1 Eriskay 2
We had a really strong performance on Friday dominating possession and chances created, however we were seriously sloppy for the two goals we conceded. Although we had numerous chances we found ourselves 0-1 down at half time.
After the break the game was a bit more even with both teams getting chances before really poor defending from a corner led to another Eriskay goal. We piled the pressure on for the remainder of the game and got a goal back from a good bit of play down the left and a real tidy finish from Lewis Macdonald. We pushed and probed for the rest of the game but we couldn’t find an equaliser despite us hitting the woodwork four times throughout the game. 1-2 the game finished.
MOTM: There’s a number of players to choose from this week with the youngsters in the team doing particularly well. I feel that Calum MacDonald deserves it for this one for the major threat he posed down the right hand side and was seriously unlucky not to score a couple after hitting the crossbar three times.
Many thanks
Fraser
North Uist United vs Iochdar Saints (Summer Cup)
North Uist United 1-7 Iochdar Saints
We went into the game missing a few key players but we started reasonably well battling through the first half defending the goal well when required. We were by no means the better team but we did have good moments in the game. We unfortunately conceded a penalty in the first half though which Saints converted to make it 0-1 going into half time.
We started the second half high on confidence after our showing in the first. This was short lived though after we were caught sleeping from kick off and conceded in the first minute of the half. The game continued in this manner with us conceding one after the other until we eventually got one back from an Andrew MacSween penalty in the 75th minute to make it 1-6. We tried to get up the park to make something happen but to no avail and Saints eventually ended the game 1-7 winners. Again the only positives we could take from the game is the few youngsters that got some valuable minutes under their belt.
MOTM: Unfortunately I’m not going to award anyone again for this game. In the first half there were a few candidates but the second half undid all the good work done in the first.
Our next game is away to Ness on Saturday at noon in the Co-op cup.
Many thanks for your support
Fraser
North Uist United vs Iochdar Saints
North Uist United 2 Iochdair Saints 5
Tuesday night saw us take on Saints at Paible in the league. We got off to a slow start again in the game and really struggled to get up the park. Saints got a couple of goals early on and then hit another one to make it 3-0 by the time we got to half way through the first half. This gave us a massive wake up call and we finally started to play some football, passing the ball around the Saints team and working our way forward. The spaces started to appear and we squandered a couple of chances before Calum MacDonald scored two really well taken goals one after the other cutting in from the left. Another couple of chances came and went in the half before the half ended 2-3 to Saints.
All the momentum was with us going into the break and we were confident we could turn the tie around. We suffered a blow shortly after when we conceded a real sloppy goal from a set piece which left us a mountain to climb. We continued to push to get back into the game and still produced a number of opportunities but couldn’t find the net. Saints got another one on the counter and the game finished 2-5. On reflection of the game, we had enough chances to win the game but couldn’t put them away; whereas Saints took all of their clear cut chances!
MOTM: It’s really between two players in this game. If it was solely on the first half then it would go to Calum but I think over the whole course of the game it has to go to Adam Keltie who created problems for Saints all game and also defended well when called upon at full back.
Our next game is away to Eriskay in the summer cup on Saturday at 4pm. Hope to see a few of you there for your valued support.
Many thanks
Fraser
North Uist United vs Eriskay
Late comeback wasn’t enough to secure victory; North Uist United 3 Eriskay 4
We started the game on Friday night really poorly, with the recent run of games clearly starting to show for some of the lads. Eriskay were on the front foot from the off and created some half decent opportunities early on. Tom produced a couple of decent stops in the first exchanges along with some decent defending to keep them out. Unfortunately their talisman Dom MacAulay couldn’t be kept quiet for long scoring two in the first half despite our best efforts to nullify his threat. We did have a couple of efforts on goal, the best was a low shot from David Downham which hit the inside of the post and flashed across the face of goal. However we couldn’t claw a goal back.
At half time we discussed ways to improve and we changed to a 4-4-2 formation to try and have more of a threat up top. We had a large chunk of the possession in the second half and created many more chances than in the first but still Dom managed to score another two for Eriskay against the run of play. We refused to give in though and in the last 15 mins we really came to life. Adam won a penalty for us on the 82nd minute which Andrew MacSween converted well. On the 84th minute Andrew got his second after a good run into the box from Ruri Macleod. The pick of our goals was certainly the third on the 86th minute after Ross hit a ball over the top and Andrew took it in his stride hitting it over their keeper on the volley. For a while it looked like we were going to complete the comeback with an onslaught on the Eriskay goal in the final stages but Eriskay held firm and saw out the win.
MOTM: Mark MacInnes just wins it in this game with his good defending throughout but mainly for his drive and energy to get forward in the second half from right back often finding himself firing a cross in after running the full length of the pitch. Not to mention his shot that came off the underside of the bar right on the final whistle. Ben also had an excellent game and Andrew put away three goals so was also close to the award along with our keeper Tom who made some crucial saves to keep us in the tie.
Our next game is on Tuesday night in Paible 7pm v Iochdar Saints. Hope to see a good crowd there again.
Many thanks for your support
Fraser
North Uist United vs Carloway (Highland Amateur Cup)
North Uist United 0 Carloway 1
We played a defensive shape on Saturday against the wind and the slope first half to try and contain a strong Carloway team. For the most part this did work however we conceded a sloppy goal from a set piece midway through the half. Unfortunately we could not get the ball up the park often enough and created very few opportunities.
We changed to a 4-3-3 in the second half to try and take advantage of the conditions. We did get up the park slightly better but rarely troubled their goal. We were solid enough at the back but just couldn’t create any real chances to get the goal. We battled well all game but ultimately didn’t perform well enough to get the win despite us throwing everything we could at the game.
MOTM: Ben Shepherd. He had a really solid game in the middle of the park on Saturday keeping their talisman quiet whilst also getting involved in our possession.
Our next game is on Tuesday night in Daliburgh at 6:45pm, hopefully see some of you there to cheer on the lads!
Many thanks for your support
Fraser
North Uist United vs Benbecula
Narrow defeat for our first home game of the season; North Uist United 1 Benbecula 2
We had a strong squad going into the game on Friday night and we started the game well. We had the majority of good play however we couldn’t get the final pass or decision correct. Many good attacking opportunities passed us by, with us being consistently wasteful in the final third. Benbecula managed to slot in a really well worked goal close to the end of the half so we went in 1-0 down at the break.
Second half continued in the same way with us playing well in spells but not managing to capitalise, with Benbecula never really putting us under a great deal of pressure. Then with 15 minutes to go Benbecula got another goal from a real mixup at the back from us. This just left us with too much to do to turn the game around and although we got a goal back through Andrew MacSween I feel as though Benbecula deserved the win. We might of had more of the ball in the game but they always had an answer to our attack.
MOTM: There were a couple of standouts. Angie MacDougall in the first half for his biting challenges in the midfield, unfortunately he was forced off early in the second half due to injury. Calum MacDonald had a good game too, especially second half. However Ross Nicolson again gets the award for a fine display at the heart of the defence. He never put a foot wrong in either of our first two games.
Many thanks for your support
Fraser