Rothes came out on top against an extremely hard-working and well-organised Fort William at Mackessack Park on Saturday.
Speysiders’ manager Ross Jack was pleased with the victory and a clean-sheet but felt his side would have scored more if they had managed to find the back of the net earlier in the match.
Rothes finished the match with 10 men following Gary Kerr’s late dismissal.
Jack said: “We didn’t know all that much about Fort William before the game but they came out and made it tough for us.
“However, if we had taken our chances and scored earlier than we did the margin of victory might have been greater.
“As it was, keeping a clean sheet was pleasing. We’re not exactly jumping through hoops but it was good to get back playing again after all this time with a good crowd to see us play.”
Michael Finnis opened the scoring for the Speysiders on the half hour mark with a powerful eight yard header from an Allen Mackenzie corner-kick corner kick to give the home side a narrow half-time advantage.
Jack Brown doubled the home side’s lead after outstanding set-up play by Greg Morrison on the right-hand side when he beat a couple of players on the edge of the box before drilling a low ball into the box for Brown to supply the finishing touch.
Late-on substitute Shane Harkness made it 3-0 with a right-foot curling shot into the bottom corner.
Rothes 3-0 Fort William
Finnis, Brown and Harkness with the goals 🍊🟠⚫️ #MonTheSpeysiders pic.twitter.com/GIBkuXfH1S— Rothes FC (@RothesFC) July 24, 2021
Jack added: “It was disappointing that substitute Gary Kerr got sent off late on for a second yellow card.
“I have no problems with the first one but he felt that he had been impeded when going through on goal. He went down and the referee deemed it to be a dive, a decision which shocked us all, and I don’t think it justified a red.
“If we had taken more care with the final ball in the box we would have been out of sight.
“But we’ve come through it unscathed ahead of Wednesday night’s North of Scotland Cup tie at Forres Mechanics when we’ll definitely freshen it up.”