Loch Ness boss hails impact of North Caledonian League top scorer banging in the goals
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MANAGER Shane Carling has hailed the impact of Allan MacPhee who has helped fire Loch Ness 10 points clear at the top of the North Caledonian League.
The former Forres Mechanics midfielder, who arrived at Loch Ness this season, is the top scorer in the division, finding the net 19 times, with 17 goals in the league and twice in cup competition.
He is six ahead of teammate Phil Macdonald who has found 13 goals as the Fortrose based outfit are runaway leaders in the NCL.
Carling says the impact of Macphee on the squad, both on and off the pitch, has been influential on how the team has performed this season.
“Allan has brought a lot to our team since he joined the club.” he said.
“He has been great in the changing room, he gets on with everyone and especially tries to help the younger players with their game.
“People forget he is 24, a lot of people think he is approaching 30 due to playing in the Highland League for so long.
“He has been playing in the number nine and 10 role for us.
“At Forres, he had to play the ball in for other players, but his job for us is beating players and shooting. If Allan doesn’t score a goal in a game, you are left shocked as he must have 20 shots a game.
“I tell him with the amount of shots he has, he should be scoring six or seven a game.
“But 19 goals in 16 games is not a bad return for someone not known for being a forward.
“His confidence is sky high, he is turning up to games expecting to score which is great for us.”
Loch Ness are 10 points clear of St Duthus in second place going into the winter break.
But with the Tain outfit having two games in hand, Carling says his team must know they have work to do after the festive break.
“The team is in a good place at the moment, but it was like that for us last season and we didn’t win the league,” he said.
“If St Duthus win their games in hand, it could be a case of if they beat us, they could go top of the league.
“Ten points sounds good for us at the moment, but in reality that can easily be caught up by us. But I can’t complain with things so far.”
