Highland League digest: Latest from Turriff United and Nairn County

Ewan Clark and Keir Smith will leave Turriff United upon the expiry of their contracts this summer.

And it is understood that the Haughs club have transfer-listed Kieran Yeats.

Striker Clark is in his second spell at Turra having returned to the club in 2022 following stints with Rothie Rovers and Deveronside.

The 33-year-old previously played for United when they first joined the Breedon Highland League in 2009 and remains their youngest scorer.

Clark has netted 43 goals in the last four years, although the last two seasons have been blighted by injury and suspension.

With his contract expiring this summer, he has decided to move on to pastures new.

Midfielder Smith’s contract is also up this summer and he has also decided to leave Turriff.

The 27-year-old former Keith, Rothes and Inverness Caledonian Thistle player has been with United since 2018 and has had to overcome serious injuries in recent years.

Smith suffered a cruciate ligament injury in October 2023, and after recovering from that, an accident away from football in January 2025 left him with several broken bones.

He spent the final few months of this season on loan at Lossiemouth as he regained fitness.

Meanwhile, defender Yeats signed for Turriff from Keith on a three-year contract in the summer of 2024.

But the P&J understands the 25-year-old has been put up for sale and other clubs have been notified of his availability.

Nairn tie down duo

Nairn County have secured attacker Ben Kelly and midfielder Finn As-Chainey on contract extensions until the summer of 2028.

Kelly joined the Wee County from Invergordon three years ago and helped the Station Park side to North of Scotland Cup glory in November 2023, scoring in their 5-4 final victory against Ross County.

The 28-year-old also had a loan spell with Forres Mechanics later that season, while this term Kelly weighed in with five goals and five assists in 26 appearances.

Nairn manager Wayne Mackintosh said: “We are all delighted that Ben has signed up for the next two seasons. He has had a great season and done really well to earn this new deal.

“He had other options, so we are really pleased that he wants to stay and continue to move forward with us.

“He has shown that he can contribute to the team both playing wide, off the front or through the middle either in a strike pairing or as a lone striker, which gives us great options depending on how we want to set up the team from game to game.

“We are really hopeful that Ben can get the rewards his efforts deserve over the coming seasons because he is the sort of player any manager would want to have in the dressing room.

“It has been a pleasure to work with Ben this season and everyone at the club is looking forward to continuing to work with him and helping him to continue his progress over the next few seasons.”

As-Chainey can keep improving

As-Chainey was recruited from St Duthus last summer and netted four times in 37 appearances for Nairn this season.

Mackintosh added: “Finn really hit his stride during the second half of the season and it was great to see his contribution to the team increase as the weeks went by.

“We saw something in him when he was on trial last summer and he has had to be patient and wait for his chance.

“Once he got himself a place in the team back in January, he never really looked back and has been among our most consistent performers in that period up to the end of season.

“We are delighted that Finn has agreed to sign on with us for the next two seasons and we are all looking forward to continuing to work with him and helping him to continue to improve.”

[Source: Press and Journal]