Highland League: Reaction from every game as Turriff and Lossiemouth share the spoils, while Banks o’ Dee end Fraserburgh’s winning run

A heavily depleted Lossiemouth dug deep to secure a 1-1 draw against Turriff United at The Haughs.

The Coasters were without several first-team players through injury, loanee recalls and a wedding in Disneyland Orlando but managed to equalise late on courtesy of Shaun Cameron after Turriff took the lead through Glen Donald.

Results elsewhere meant Lossiemouth slipped to 17th in the Breedon Highland League, while Turriff remain 13th and still searching for their first home win of the season.

In pleasant conditions after last week’s storm-induced postponements, Turriff quickly asserted themselves as the dominant team as they pushed for an early opener.

Kieran Yeats was finding space on the left, but his crosses were effectively dealt with by the Lossiemouth defence, who also blocked a flurry of efforts from Sam Garnham before Stuart Knight saved from Murray Thompson’s curling effort in the 18th minute.

Turriff’s persistence was rewarded in the 29th minute when a give-and-go between Thompson and Garnham released the latter into the Lossiemouth box, who was felled by James Leslie.

Referee Scott Leslie pointed to the spot, but Turriff captain Andrew Watt was unable to put his side ahead as Knight comfortably saved his effort.

Lossiemouth continued to hold on into the second half and their resilience almost paid off when Lucas Davidson’s corner beat Turriff goalkeeper Cameron Reid which required a goal-line clearance from Watt.

Turriff made the breakthrough in the 63rd minute when an inswinging corner from Thompson was met by Donald who headed the ball into the far corner.

Lossiemouth restored parity with 12 minutes to play. An initial counter was thwarted by Turriff which left their defence out of position and Davidson found Cameron with a precision pass, with the striker reaching the ball before Reid to poke in the equaliser.

Lossiemouth boss Steven Porter said: “Overall I’m pleased with the performance. I asked a few boys to play in different positions, and they reacted well to the challenge.

“I think we were very lucky that the score was level at half-time. Turriff had a lot of opportunities and will be frustrated with their missed chances. We didn’t compete well enough in the first half.

“It was a great save from Stuart (Knight). It was a penalty but I’m really happy Stuart managed to save it and keep us in the game when we were struggling.

“The second half started in a similar fashion, and we eventually conceded, but I felt we had a bit more enthusiasm and we started to work harder and press more after going behind. I liked that there was a sense of frustration, and it carried us towards the equaliser.”

Turriff manager Warren Cummings said: “We are disappointed that we didn’t win. We did the hard part when we got ahead after being on top for large portions of the game, but Lossiemouth pegged us back.

“I felt frustrated at how we lacked the final pass and shot in the first half, and I spoke to the team at half-time about how we needed to be more clinical.

“It was a good goal to get ahead but Lossiemouth reacted better after we scored and put us under pressure. It’s a simple finish from their point of view and poor defending on our part.

“We didn’t cover our defenders when they were out of possession, and we were punished.”

Banks o’ Dee 3-1 Fraserburgh

Banks o’ Dee capitalised on a seven-minute purple patch to record a fine 3-1 victory over Fraserburgh.

The visitors led through Paul Young’s strike early in the second half but goals from Magnus Watson and two Liam Duell goals in the last quarter gave Dee a deserved win.

Banks o’ Dee manager Paul Lawson was delighted with his side’s response to going a goal down. He said: “There wasn’t much in the first half at either end and then we found ourselves behind so early after the break.

“But the guys showed great character after that conceding the goal seemed to spur us on.

“We tweaked the shape, and Max Alexander was excellent after coming on and everyone put in a great shift.

“Scoring twice in a minute seemed to knock the stuffing out of them, and we took control after that and ended up deserved winners.

“We’re on a great run after a dropping points in the early part of the season and that win puts us a bit closer to the top teams, it’s a competitive league this season with lots of clubs capable of taking points off each other.”

The first half was pretty even with few chances at either end. Mark Gilmour fired wide with an early effort for the home side, whilst Scott Barbour forced Daniel Hoban into a good save for the Broch and Logan Watt couldn’t force the rebound home.

Things picked up after the break and Sam Pugh saw a header blocked before Jevan Anderson’s shot from the follow up was cleared off the line.

It was the visitors who took the lead though on 49 minutes when Lewis Duncan found Barbour outside the penalty area who laid the ball off to Paul Young to stroke the ball home from 18 yards low past Hoban.

Pugh again went close for Dee, stinging the hands of Andy Reid, and they eventually got their reward on 70 minutes when Gilmour set up Magnus Watson who fired the ball into the top right corner from 25 yards.

Better was to follow a minute later when a flowing move down the right saw Max Alexander cut the ball back to Liam Duell to slot the ball home from eight yards out.

The home side had their tails up now and extended their lead further on 77 minutes when the impressive Alexander saw his shot parried by Reid and Duell was quickest to react firing home the rebound from inside the penalty area.

Fraserburgh manager Mark Cowie said: “We started the second half well, had a bit of momentum and scored a good goal through Paul Young, but after that we didn’t deal with three situations where we had control, and the ball has ended up in our net three times.

“They got their tails up after the first goal, they’re a good side and punished us ending up deserved winners.

“For all the time when we were on top, we didn’t create enough, didn’t make good decisions in the final third.

“We’ve been on a good run and this was going to happen at some stage, but we’re still in the mix and it puts Banks o’ Dee up there as well.”

Buckie Thistle 2-0 Forres Mechanics

Two goals in two minutes from Josh Peters and Marcus Goodall gave Buckie Thistle victory over Forres Mechanics at Victoria Park.

Peters and Goodall struck just beyond the half hour mark with two well-taken strikes to lift the Jags above their opponents into ninth place in the Highland League table.

Buckie manager Lewis Mackinnon said: “I’m delighted with the win, we started on the front foot, pressed well, played good football and scored two well worked goals.

“The second half wasn’t quite so good, we were a bit too safe and sat too deep, but we kept a clean sheet which was really pleasing. We had to go with a new back three today and I thought they were excellent throughout.

“It was a thoroughly deserved win and a good overall performance today.”

Buckie started well and Lyall Keir burst through on 11 minutes, his low drive bringing a fine fingertip save from Sean McCarthy.

Seven minutes later a mistake in the home defence let Matt Jamieson clean through, but he could only fire his effort wide of the far post from 18 yards.

Peters broke the deadlock with a superbly taken goal on 31 minutes. Harry Noble’s long ball forward was controlled brilliantly by the Jags number nine, and he raced clear to place the ball wide of McCarthy to open the scoring.

Number two arrived two minutes later, Peters turning provider with a reverse pass in behind for Goodall and he planted a finish low beyond McCarthy from a tight angle.

An outstanding team move almost made it three in the 40th minute, Ryan Fyffe’s excellent long ball volleyed first time in behind to Keir by Goodall, and from Keir’s cross, Fin Allen’s diving header went just past the left post.

Forres sub Aiden Cruickshank and Fyffe brought fine saves from Theo Simpson and McCarthy with second half free kicks, but it ended in a 2-0 win for the hosts.

Forres boss Steven MacDonald was frustrated with his charges. He said: “We didn’t turn up today, it’s as simple as that. We didn’t lay a glove on Buckie, they had a lot more energy and running than us.

“We were nowhere near what we know we are capable of, so we got what we deserved I’m afraid.

“In the second half we competed a bit better, but Buckie were managing the game well by that point and it just wasn’t enough.”

Clachnacuddin 0-1 Huntly

An Angus Grant first-half winner saw Huntly leave Inverness with all three points against Clachnacuddin.

Manager Colin Charlesworth was delighted with the performance from his side who secured their first win in eight games.

He said: “Teams don’t want to come to Clach away and you can see why they’re a good well-drilled young side but for the first 45minutes we did well and we took a chance out of the ones we made and could’ve had more.

“We knew they’d come out of the second half because of the start and we had to fight for every single ball and we did that in the second half.”

Clachnacuddin went into the fixture off the back of a 12-match unbeaten run but manager Conor Gethins was unhappy with the performance from his side.

He said: “That today wasn’t acceptable in the first half an it took us until the 85th minute to get some urgency.

“We’ve come a long way and raised the standards and you see that with how happy they (Huntly) were after the game with a big win but we didn’t work hard enough or show some urgency and imagination.”

The hosts had the better of the chances in the first half but Mark Ridgers showed why he’s had seven clean sheets already this season keeping out the front two of Sam Robertson and Angsu Grant within the space of minutes.

Huntly had limited the home side to few chances inside the first half and broke the deadlock seven minutes from the break when Callum Youngson lifted a ball over the top of the home defence for Angus Grant to run on and he timed his run well before firing low inside the post for his ninth of the season.

The woodwork denied Clach on 77 minutes when substitute Andrew Macrae struck the post

Five minutes into stoppage time, Leonard Wilson blocked a Scott Davidson shot. The ball rebound back to James Anderson but a covering Ryan Sewell did enough to keep a certain equaliser out and help secure three points for his side.

Deveronvale 2-4 Brora Rangers

Despite Brora racing into a three-goal interval lead the current league champions had to withstand a strong Deveronvale fightback in the second half before captain Jordan MacRae struck late on to ensure the visitors would come out on top.

Brora manager Steven Mackay felt that his team was excellent in the first half, surging three goals ahead and then were equally as poor during the second period until a couple of changes steadied the ship as they grabbed a decisive fourth counter.

He said “We did something similar at Turriff earlier in the season and had to rely on a last minute goal to get the win that day and I didn’t want this game to play out the same way.

“I thought we were excellent the first half and going in at half time the minimum for us was to at least finish the game 3-0 and get a clean sheet, which is frustrating not to get.

“All that being said, this is not an easy place to come and get a victory as other teams have also found out this season.

“The win came but wasn’t in the manner we wanted on the day.

“Three points are three points and despite looking for perfection if someone had said beforehand we would win the game 4-2 I would have been more than happy.”

Vale manager Garry Wood was delighted with his team’s showing in the second half but knows they can’t give teams of the quality of Brora a three goal start.

He said: “It is more frustrating than anything else as we showed after the guys made changes at half-time how good a team we can be. We performed really well and had we done that for the whole game we would have won.

“We showed a lot of character in the second half as it would have been easy to throw the towel in.

“The changes made saw us compete far better to create chances and get back into the game but what cost us overall was standing off the Brora players in the first half.”

Alex Cooper put Brora ahead after 21 minutes before further counters from James Wallace on the half hour and Mark Nicolson five minutes later had the visitors well in front.

Ryan Park pulled one back five minutes after the restart before a Jamie Maclellan header two minutes later had Vale right back in contention.

Jordan MacRae ensured Brora of the victory, sliding in to force a Tom Kelly cut-back over the line from close range with seven minutes remaining.

Inverurie Locos 1-2 Brechin City

Brechin City returned to winning ways with a 2-1 success against Inverurie Locos at Harlaw Park.

The Glebe Park’s side lost at home to Fraserburgh in the only fixture played last weekend and City manager Ray McKinnon was pleased to see his side bounce back with a win.

He said: “You never get any easy games up here. Inverurie made it very difficult for us. It was really important we showed some great battling qualities.

“We’ve been getting setbacks every week. This time it was our captain Euan Spark going off injured in the first half but I felt the lads did really well.

“We spoke to the players at half time. They were told they had to learn how to win this game.

“Playing out from the back was getting us nowhere so we looked to play it more in their half and we did just that.

“You won’t win games effortlessly, you’ve got to go out and fight for it.

“We had to bring in a few players who were lacking in match fitness and they did really well.”

The opening goal of the game went to the Hedgemen in 11 minutes and described by the manager as “straight from the training ground.”

A corner from the left was met at the back post by Kieran Sweeney who played it right back along the face of goal for Ben Armour to force home from close range.

The lead lasted just over three minutes as a clever Locos passing move ended with centre forward Ethan Cairns swivelling and finding the corner of the net.

The rest of the half was entertaining with both sides going for it.

The winner came in 52 minutes when a deceptive, low cross from the left by Mitchell Findlay was deflected past Locos goalkeeper Zack Ellis and into the net.

Locos boss Dean Donaldson said: “The first half was as encouraging as I’ve seen all season. A lot more energy with a change of shape. Had we gone in at the interval ahead it would’ve been a fair reflection.

“In the second half I don’t think we got going, we ran out of legs.

“We made a few changes but we were giving away needless fouls. Brechin are a good side, we have an average age of around 22. I’m concentrating on getting players up to speed which will be invaluable in the years to come.”

Nairn County 0-2 Keith

A first half Mikey Ironside double ended Nairn’s five-game winning streak, giving Keith their first away win in seven months.

The result moved the Maroons off the second bottom spot in the league table.

Keith manager Craig Ewen said: “I’m delighted with the win at a difficult place, we sorely needed the three points.

“Ironically, I don’t think we were at our best, but we dug in and were very resolute in the second half.

“We haven’t been starting games well, so we were trying to get a good start.

“Getting the first goal was a big thing for us, gave us a platform.

“We were always dangerous in the breaks, and getting the second goal just before half-time gave us that extra cushion. We know 2-0 can be a difficult scoreline as if they get the next goal the momentum changes.

“We’d a lot of pressure to defend in the second half, but I don’t think Craig (Reid) had a save to make.”

Play swung from end to end in the first half with Keith goalie Reid pulling off a fine one-handed save to deny Calum Mackay, then a Mackay header came off the top of the bar with Jordan Lynch completing the clearance.

Then, two quick fire goals put the Maroons in the driving seat.

With 31 minutes played Lewis Munro parried a Lynch shot, but the alert Ironside pounced to slot home the loose ball from eight yards.

Two minutes before the break the scoreline was doubled when Ironside latched onto a superb through ball from Nathan McKeown, slamming it into the net from 12 yards.

A triple substitution at half-time didn’t help Nairn’s cause and the nearest they came to scoring was when a Paul Brindle effort hit the post with 70 minutes on the clock.

Nairn manager Wayne Mackintosh said: “We were very complacent, we’ve been on a good run, but the vibe from the kick off was that we thought we just had to turn up.

“Credit to Keith, they deserved to win. They were the better team, worked harder than us, and that’s the most disappointing thing.

“The boys know I expect them to work hard for 90 minutes, and that wasn’t applied today.”

Rothes 1-5 Formartine United

An emphatic victory at Mackessack Park propelled Formartine United to second place in the table, level on points with leaders Brora Rangers.

The beleaguered Speysiders, with eight players still out, competed well in the first half but after the break the strength, experience and class of the Pitmedden outfit told.

United boss Stuart Anderson said: “Rothes were really spirited and we found their goalkeeper Stewart Black to be in good form so it took a while for us to break them down.

“We had some good performances and any time you pick up three points away from home you’ve got to be happy.

“That’s us joint top of the league again, we need to keep it going but we’ll continue to take it game by game. Five or six teams will be saying the same.”

Formartine opened the scoring in the 20th minute when central defender Glenn Murison rose unchallenged at the back post to nod home a deep corner kick.

Rothes levelled on the half hour mark, Matty McConnachie was brought down just inside the box by Scott Ross and Ruairi Duncan sent Stuart McKenzie the wrong way from the resultant spot-kick.

Two minutes later Rory McAllister saw his floating back-post header come back off the face of the crossbar.

Formartine were back in front three minutes later when Murison fired home his second of the afternoon from 15 yards.

Then Hamish Ritchie saw his delightful 25-yard lob come back off the crossbar with keeper Black nowhere.

Shortly after Black somehow got a hand to the ball to clear it on the line as livewire Ritchie was about to celebrate another goal.

United’s third was only delayed until the 58th minute when Tyler Mykyta got on the end of a superb sweeping move, including a marvellous flick on from McAllister, to finish from six yards.

Scott Adams made it 4-1 to the visitors in the 70th minute with another clinical finish.

With three minutes to go Formartine substitute Michael Dangana. added another with a six-yard back post finish.

Rothes manager Ronnie Sharp said: “The first half was competitive and we worked hard throughout the game but in the end Formartine’s quality shone through.

“They’re a big physical side and we’re having to juggle the boys at the back about every week due to injury and illness. We had Owen Alexander injured and Jordan Laidlaw, who we’ve just signed from Strathspey Thistle, called in sick this morning, so we’re having to reshuffle that back line all the time.”

Wick Academy 2-1 Strathspey Thistle

Wick Academy left it late to claim all three points against Strathspey Thistle.

Louis Hancock netted the winner in the third miute of injury time to give the Scorries a a third league win of the campaign.

Euan Kennedy had fired Wick in front a minute before the break before Josh Race got the visitors back on level terms in the 63rd minute.

Wick boss Gary Manson was full of praise for Hancock, who had only been brought on a as a substitute in the 90th minute.

He said: “It’s always good to get a win and you can’t often beat a last-miute winner.

“Spirits were good in the camp after the game.

“I would have liked to have got Louis on sooner but you only have three stoppages to make subs.

“We had made two and going into the final stages boys were starting to cramp up so I didn’t want to make a sub too early and leave us with no subs left if someone had to come off.

“So Louis only came on late in the game but the one thing he gives you is bundles of energy and enthusiasm.

“That was what got him his goal as he made a run forward that others maybe wouldn’t have done that late in the game.

“He got his reward with a good finish.

“He is a right back by trade but we played a bit further forward as he has that energy to try to get in behind Strathspey. It worked better than I expected.

“I’m delighted for him as he works hard and is so enthusiastic, he deserved it.”

Manson added: “It was a reasonably tight game. I thought we were quite dominant in the first half and we went in 1-0 up.

“If we had taken a bit more care in the final third it could have been a bit more comfortable.

“We never created enough clear-cut chances.

“It was a tight affair but I felt we did enough to shade it.”

The result moves Wick up to 14th spot on 11 points from 12 games, while Strathspey are 12th with 15 points from 13 games.

Strathspey boss Ryan Esson was disappointed to see his side take nothing from the game.

He said: “Losing late goals is becoming a real issue for us.

“It was a tough one to take as we should have won the game.

“Josh Race scored an unbelievable goal for us. He cuts inside, goes past three players and whips it into the bottom corner from 25 yards.

“In the last 20 minutes I thought we were going to win it and Aaron Doran missed a huge chance for us.

“But the goals we gave away were so cheap and the defending was abysmal.

“Our game management has to be a lot better. We need to start winning football matches.”

[Source: Press and Journal]