Nairn County manager Steven Mackay feels their 1-1 draw with Formartine United at Station Park is a sign of the progress they are making.
The point earned by the Wee County against their visitors from Pitmedden makes it seven games unbeaten in all competitions.
In their last six league outings Nairn have amassed 14 points from a possible 18.
Boss Mackay said: “It shows how far we’ve come that a couple of months ago we hadn’t won a game, now we’ve gone seven games unbeaten and we’re disappointed with a draw against Formartine.
“It’s a marker in terms of where we are now. I’m happy enough with the draw, it keeps our run going but it’s tinged with a little bit of a missed opportunity to potentially win.
“If we had got the winner it would have been us sneaking the points a bit because on the balance of play I felt a point was fair, but we did have opportunities to nick it.
35' GOAL! Callum MacLean fizzes a cross in low, Angus Dey rattles off a shot, deflected back to him and he doesn't miss a second time!
🟡 1-0 🔴 pic.twitter.com/OH9KfuTYpV
— Nairn County FC (@NairnCounty) December 10, 2022
“We’ve got to be pleased with our return recently given where we were not so long ago.
“We’re now sitting 10th in the league and we’re looking ahead of us rather than behind us. We’ve got Deveronvale next week and back-to-back games against Clach after that.
“They’ll both have something to say about that, but as a team we’re working hard and performing well but I still think there’s more can be squeezed out of this squad.
“Overall I’m very pleased with how we’ve played in the last six games and 14 points out of 18 is a good return.”
Visitors hit back
United’s Jack MacIver was denied by the post in the early stages, but it was Nairn who opened the scoring after 35 minutes.
Callum Maclean picked out Angus Dey with a cross from the right flank, although the midfielder’s initial shot was blocked Dey reacted quickest to fire home.
But Formartine equalised midway through the second half with Graeme Rodger applying the finishing touch after Kieran Adams flicked on a Daniel Park corner.
Despite the best efforts of both sides in the final quarter it finished level.
Formartine boss Stuart Anderson said: “We’re a little bit frustrated, we had most of the ball, but we didn’t convert that into goals.
“We got the fine details wrong in the final third, but once again we showed great character and spirit to come back after going a goal down.
“That was really pleasing and we’ve done it a lot this season, but we probably didn’t do enough with the ball to win the game.
“It’s the best I’ve seen us look after the ball this season, we were good in possession.”