Even the most ardent lovers of extreme sports view a daylight raid into darkest Merkinch with enough trepidation to leave them nursing their morning can of Red Bull a little more thoughtfully.
Less dangerous options are considered; swimming with sharks, perhaps, or standing on a table in Ma Camerons at any point during the Six Nations and declaring loudly that ‘rugby is for soft lads with big ears and it doesn’t really matter anyway’.
The Lossiemouth support laugh loudly in the face of such opportunities for terror and again strode fearlessly into Grant Street Park hoping to see their side build on the hard fought win against Strathspey Thistle the previous weekend.
It wasn’t pretty, but it was a win and that’s all that anyone cared about. The Coasters welcomed Sam Milton back into the fold and gave Aaron Hamilton his debut following his arrival from Elgin CIty, while Darren Bailey missed out due to suspension.
While home games against Clach occasionally go the way of Lossie, travels west are usually made more in hope than expectation. Clach were big winners when Lossie were in town last April, recovering from the loss of an early goal to earn a place in the final of the Highland League Cup.
The last time the Coasters triumphed in Merkinch, Clach were halfway through a season that ended with them winning a famous league and cup double. Stuart Strathdee scored the only goal as Lossie greedily swaggered their way to three points AND a clean sheet in January 2004, a date that not only feels like a long time ago but IS a long time ago.
It’s not just Lossie who have continually left Grant Street with nothing – Nairn County won there earlier this season for the first time since 2005.
Games between the two are notorious for late and last minute goals, rousing comebacks from the Invernesians and all manner of drama. This game was no different, with Clach left celebrating a 90th minute strike from Ian Penwright.
Unfortunately for Lossie, it was the fifth goal the hosts had scored in the final ten minutes of the game.
The final scoreline was all the more distressing when you consider Lossie looked a composed side for most of the game. Clach dominated possession early on but did little with it and the longer the game went on, the less likely they looked like scoring once, never mind five times.
A goalless hour and more had passed before Scott Miller opened the scoring for Lossie with a delicate chip over John Campbell. Despite the dismissal of Hamilton shortly after the opener, Lossie continued to look relatively comfortable against an ever more frustrated Clach, but a penalty award ten minutes from the end saw the roof come in on the tourists.
Gordon Morrison converted the spot kick with his first touch having come on as a sub moments before, and before Lossie had time to compose themselves the game was over.
Goals from David McGurk, Scott Davidson, Blair Lawrie and the final effort from Penwright all flew past Connor Hall in a bizarre 600 second spell and, while a couple of goals benefitted from a linesman with heavy arms, Clach also managed to hit the frame of the goal twice amongst the carnage of the closing minutes as they took advantage of their guests.
A game which had just minutes previously offered the potential for points now had the Lossie support checking their watches to make sure there wasn’t time for Clach to score any more, but the hosts had left it too late to really stick the knife in and stopped at five.
Lossie now face a pair of home games against the high-flying northerners, Brora Rangers (Wednesday) and Wick Academy (Saturday). This will be the Coasters first look at Brora this season after the originally scheduled tie was postponed due to Brora’s Scottish Cup run.
A disrupted winter fixture list has left Brora in second place and chasing Turriff United so their need for all three points is as great as Lossie’s, for whom victory on Wednesday would see them move further clear of the bottom three.