Forres Mechanics picked up a valuable 4-3 victory against Rothes at Mosset Park.
The game was won and lost in a frantic first half with six goals, four of them for the home side and although Jack Maley scored in injury-time for Rothes the result was never really in doubt.
Delighted Forres manager Steven MacDonald said: “The goals in the first half were really well worked and we gave Rothes a lot of trouble with balls in behind.
“However, the disappointing aspect for me was the two goals we conceded as I think we gifted them those two first half goals, while that last minute goal for them took some of the gloss off it for me.”
Mechanics left striker Lee Fraser on the bench while Rothes forward Steven Mackay, who has been linked with the vacant Nairn County manager’s job, watched on from the Mosset Park stand.
Forres went ahead in the second minute when Bruce Milne brought down Ethan Cairns in the box and Ben Barron sent Sean McCarthy the wrong way from the resultant spot kick.
Rothes equalised in the ninth minute, Ruari Fraser failed to clear a Shane Harkness cross and Matheus Machado pounced to fire past Stuart Knight from eight yards.
Mechanics were back in front in the 19th minute when Craig Mackenzie turned his marker and placed a beauty past Harkness from 12 yards.
It was a special day for Stevie Grant who was the mascot for today’s match against Rothes FC.
The next special day on Stevie’s calendar will be 14th October when he marries Kristy – the club would like to wish them both all the best for the big day when it comes 🟤🟡 pic.twitter.com/hFU5SJg6Xq
— ForresMechanics F.C. (@TheCansOfficial) October 1, 2022
The visitors defence were all sea two minutes later when Dale Wood’s deep free-kick picked out Connall Ewan totally unmarked eight yards out, and although McCarthy brilliantly blocked his header, Ewan followed up to ram home the rebound.
Rothes reduced the leeway in the 33rd minute when Fraser Robertson took a Machado feed and beat Knight with a well-placed grounder.
Five minutes later the Can-Cans restored their two goal advantage when Milne thought a long through ball was heading out, but Cairns gathered it on the line, cut inside and beat McCarthy with a great 10-yard strike.
Jack Maley’s brilliant 20-yard volley in the fourth minute of added-time made the scoreline more respectable for the visitors.
Disappointed Rothes boss Ross Jack said: “Losing early goals has become something of a theme for ourselves in recent months, you find yourself behind basically before you start, and it’s absolutely pathetic.
“Our defending from front to back just isn’t good enough. We just couldn’t deal with the long ball Forres played all day. We know that Stuart Knight boots it miles up the park for them to chase the second balls, and that works well for them.”
Deveronvale 4-3 Keith
Deveronvale hit four goals in a 16-minute first half spell after having fallen two goals behind to record a much needed victory over Keith at Princess Royal Park.
Kieran Mooney had put Keith ahead after 16 minutes when he raced onto a ball over the top of the home defence to finish with a 14-yard drive.
Five minutes later Tom Andrews added a second from close range after good lead up play by James Brownie but Vale got back into the game after 25 minutes with a back post finish from Ben Allan after Horace Ormsby hit the post.
Dane Ballard levelled when he chested a Harry Noble cross past Kyle Irving on the half hour mark before Ormsby’s ball to the back post deceived the Keith defence and landed in the net seven minutes later.
The goal scoring continued with four minutes of the half remaining as Vale striker Matty Jamieson got the final touch to a scramble in the box and grab the sixth goal of the afternoon.
After the drama of the first half there was just one further goal as Keith reduced the deficit to one when Brownie’s shot from just outside the area found the target in the 50th minute.
Vale assistant Craig Park said: “To be honest I thought that we were extremely unlucky to be two goals behind but they showed character to come back and score four goals in a short spell of time.
“We were a bit nervous the last ten minutes as Keith had reduced our lead to one but the boys did so well to see the game out and it is great to get the three points.
“Jay Goldie was terrific on the right hand side driving the boys on while another youngster Jaydan Bradford also did well.
“It is their first season in the Highland League they are maybe playing a bit more than was expected of them but they never let us down.”
Keith manager Craig Ewen said “We are so disappointed as we got ourselves into a good position early in the game and then we had that ridiculous spell of defending that saw us basically handing the game to Vale.”
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