Veteran keeper Gray sees bright future for Thurso after man-of-the-match display
Veteran keeper Michael Gray has predicted a bright future for Thurso after rolling back the years to produce a man-of-the-match display in the Vikings' victory over Invergordon.
And he welcomed the renewed "zest" around the North Caledonian League, saying it can only be beneficial for the pyramid system.
Gray (44) agreed to help out as an emergency replacement on Saturday after Thurso's regular goalies were unavailable for the last home game of the season. His previous competitive match was in a county cup final two years ago.
When he made his Thurso debut in 1998, some of the players in the current Thurso squad were not even born.
Gray nevertheless caught the eye against Invergordon with some important and agile saves as the Vikings recovered from the loss of an early goal to run out 3-1 winners in the Division One fixture at the Dammies.
Gray, who is Wick Academy's assistant manager, said after the game: “I think I was about sixth or seventh choice but I was delighted to be asked. I'm feeling my back, I'm feeling my calf muscles – I even started taking cramp after about 30 minutes."
Two saves in the first half, denying Invergordon's Shaun Kerr each time, were especially impressive.
“Sometimes you get lucky," Gray said. "The saves were in what I would consider the areas that goalies should make saves. Sometimes they land in those areas and sometimes they don't.
“When the Invergordon goal went in I thought, 'Here we go, this is going to be a long afternoon.' But credit to Thurso – I thought they played some fantastic football to recover from that setback and they thoroughly deserved their win.”
Gray praised the work being done by manager Stevie Reid and his coaching team.
“I was here watching last week as well [against St Duthus] and I was really impressed," he said. "Stevie Reid, Tom McKenna and Scotty Davidson have worked hard to get them into a really good shape and you can see the confidence starting to go through them. Jimmy Canavan and Robbie Carbry are integral to the success now being seen at the club and their efforts should also be recognised.
“You can see the players are all confident on the ball, willing to take that little bit of risk at times, and they've got a good understanding of the philosophy the management team has set out.
"The age demographic of that team is pretty impressive as well, so I think the future bodes well for Thurso and I'm delighted with that because it has been a pretty tough season for everybody connected with the North Caley – start, stop, start, stop.
"You have to feel for Invergordon as they are absolutely gutted because going into the break [in December] they were clear and have now picked up two points from four games. But congratulations to Golspie, who have shown terrific consistency since the restart to take the title.
“For a while I thought the league appeared to be dying on its feet because it was down to about five or six teams and there was nothing really going for it – but now they're up to 12 teams and suddenly there's a zest about it again. There are quite a few teams that are capable of taking points off each other, making for a competitive league.
"It also bodes well for the pyramid system because the young boys get the opportunity to play in this league, test themselves, develop, and hopefully then there are benefits to the Highland League.
“It's the same with the summer football. The summer should feed the North Caley and the North Caley should feed the Highland League.”
Gray was chosen as man of the match by a group of long-distance fans who travelled from Chesterfield in Derbyshire to attend the game. They handed over a pack of ale from a Chesterfield brewery.
Related stories:
- We proved how good we are, says manager Reid as Thurso end Invergordon title hopes
- Long-distance football fans have 'fantastic weekend' after travelling from Chesterfield to Thurso