Highland League: Brechin City close the gap on leaders Brora as Formartine United and Strathspey Thistle pick up wins

Andy Kirk was pleased to see a clinical edge from Brechin City as they beat Buckie Thistle 3-0 to move to within three points of the top of the Breedon Highland League.

In a fine first half for the Hedgemen Mitch Taylor bagged a brace and Grady McGrath also netted to wrap up the win at Victoria Park.

The result means second-placed Brechin are three points behind leaders Brora Rangers with two games in hand.

They have also won four matches out of four since Kirk returned as manager last month.

He said: “I was really pleased with how we killed the game off in the first half.

“We haven’t seen too much of that, but when we’re at it and we’re clinical we can very dangerous.

“It’s just getting the consistency from the players to keep doing it.

“I thought their work-rate and their attitude was brilliant.

“We’re throwing a lot at the players just now and they’re trying their best to deliver what we’re asking of them.

“We know there’s going to be mistakes along the way, but I can’t praise them enough for what they’re trying to do.”

Match action

Brechin started well and home goalkeeper Sean McIntosh made excellent saves to deny Taylor and Fraser MacLeod, while Cillian Sheridan and Taylor both found the net, but were thwarted by the offside flag.

Buckie did look threatening from Jack Walker’s long throw-ins, but after 33 minutes the Hedgemen broke the deadlock.

McGrath’s cutback from the left flank found Taylor, who was initially repelled by a superb stop from McIntosh, before reacting quickly to drive the rebound into the net.

Six minutes later Brechin doubled their lead. McIntosh had made another good save from McGrath, but from the resultant Taylor corner on the right Lewis Martin’s header was blocked on the line and McGrath forced home the rebound.

In the 42nd minute City’s third wrapped up their victory. Calvin Beattie’s pass found Taylor in space on the right side of the box and he produced a composed finish.

With Brechin in a commanding position the action was a bit more sedate in the second period, although Buckie did threaten in the closing stages.

In the 77th minute Josh Peters’ 16-yard shot forced a good save from goalkeeper Andy McNeil and seven minutes later Cole Donaldson’s close range attempt was deflected wide.

Poor spell costs the Jags

Thistle are now winless in their last five matches and remain eighth in the table.

Manager Lewis MacKinnon said: “For parts of the game we were competitive. There was a spell in the first half where we gained a bit of control and we could have done better with some of our opportunities at long throws.

“But we couldn’t capitalise on those opportunities and then we got punished.

“We need to be a bit more streetwise when we go a goal down, we seem to capitulate and the top teams punish you for it.

“I can’t fault the effort, the guys worked until the end, 75 minutes of the game was good and 15 minutes was really poor.”

Formartine United 1-0 Deveronvale

Formartine United moved up to third in the Breedon Highland League with a narrow 1-0 victory over Deveronvale at North Lodge Park.

The hosts struggled to break down a well-organised Vale, with Aidan McCormick’s second half strike proving to be the only difference in a game that lacked goalmouth quality.

The away side started positively, with Keane Matheson and Ryan Park combining to fashion an early chance which went wide.

Vale went even closer in the 23rd minute, when a Demilade Yunus cross was headed off the post by Park.

Formartine’s best chance of the half fell to Rory McAllister when he was played through on goal by Michael Dangana, but a heavy touch narrowed the angle and his effort went wide.

A serious injury to Aaron Norris at the restart delayed proceedings but substitute McCormick, who replaced the right-back, found the net for Formartine.

Vale defender Jaydan Bradford slipped and missed the ball, allowing McCormick to drive towards goal and dispatch his effort into the bottom corner in the 55th minute.

McAllister looked to double Formartine’s lead on the hour mark, but his effort from the edge of the box was comfortably saved by Euan Storrier.

Chances were at a premium thereafter as Formartine looked to consolidate the result, with Deveronvale failing to muster enough quality to test Stuart McKenzie.

The away side threw caution to the wind in the closing stages with four strikers on the field, but Formartine held on to clinch what could be a vital win in their league campaign.

Strathspey Thistle 3-2 Rothes

Strathspey Thistle edged out Rothes in the Speyside derby with all five goals coming in an action-packed first half.

New Strathspey manager Aaron Doran took charge of the Grantown club for the first time against a Rothes outfit desperate for points in their quest to avoid potential relegation at the end of the season.

The home side flew out of the blocks and opened the scoring in the second minute, Josh Race giving Stewart Black in the Rothes goal no chance with a rising 22-yard drive.

In the 13th minute Jake Thompson sent a great ball across the Jags’ six-yard box but there were no takers to finish it off.

Rothes equalised on the quarter hour mark, Jonathan Bain sent in a free-kick from distance and Owen Alexander rose to send a superb downward header wide of Danny Gillan in the home goal.

Five minutes later Strathspey were back in front, a deep free-kick was fired goalward and Shaun Morrison was on hand to nod into an empty net from a couple of yards.

On the half hour Rothes levelled, home keeper Gillan failed to hold on to a fierce Tom Brady effort allowing Thompson to net from six yards.

But four minutes later Strathspey were in front again, Thompson gave away a needless corner-kick and Dean Stewart made the visitors pay when he headed home from six yards.

After the break there was nothing between the two teams with Strathspey content to sit in and consolidate their advantage.

Meanwhile, Wick Academy v Forres Mechanics was postponed due to Harmsworth Park being waterlogged.

[Source: Press and Journal]