Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Nairn County break into top-10 with derby win at Clach as goals are hailed by manager Steven Mackay

Nairn County came out on top on derby day, beating Clach 2-0 at Grant Street Park. Images: Jason Hedges/DC Thomson
Nairn County came out on top on derby day, beating Clach 2-0 at Grant Street Park. Images: Jason Hedges/DC Thomson

Nairn County manager Steven Mackay was thrilled to see his men show killer touches to defeat Clachnacuddin 2-0 in the New Year Highland League derby at Grant Street.

Swift first-half goals from Andrew Greig and Aidan Young gave the visitors a deserved victory, although real chances overall were few and far between.

Greig’s opener for Nairn arrived on 25 minutes when, from a Kenny McKenzie pass, the winger coolly clipped a high ball over Martin Mackinnon into the net.

Five minutes later, Young swiped the ball into the net from an acute angle after slack play from Clach at the back allowed him in.

A saved effort from Nairn’s Kenny McKenzie was as close as it got to another goal in the second half as Clach failed to find a way through.

Nairn County’s Ross Tokely in the thick of the action.

Mackay praised both scorers for showing a killer instinct when it mattered to secure the win – and make it seven successive league games without defeat as they moved into ninth spot in the Highland League.

He said: “We were debating whether Andrew meant the first one. We’re not sure if the keeper has helped him out a bit, but it was great awareness from him when he saw the keeper off the line. I think he has intended to chip him and it was great to see it go in.

“With the second goal, we always ask Ciaran to chase lost causes. You never know what can happen and he’s picked the pocket of a defender and finished it from a really acute angle, which was great. It gave us a nice cushion.”

It was Nairn’s first game since drawing 1-1 with Formartine on December 10, and Clach’s first fixture since a battling 4-2 defeat at Brora Rangers on November 26.

Mackay added: “It was a great win for us. The pitch was in a better condition than expected, with the way the weather has been. It was quite firm initially, but it was good to get a game on and it was a tough battle, as we knew it be.

Andrew Greig celebrates after opening the scoring for Nairn County.

“We matched their appetite and work-rate, which was important, especially coming to Clach in a derby.

“We got two good goals and perhaps could have added to it, but we were delighted to get the clean sheet and delighted to get the win.”

Defeat for the Lilywhites leaves them third-bottom, two points behind Deveronvale, who lost 3-2 late on at Buckie Thistle.

Defending slammed by Clach boss

Home manager Jordan Macdonald was less than impressed with his team’s efforts and said the fact this was their first game since November 26 was “no excuse”.

He said: “We shot ourselves in the foot. The goals we gave away came from absolutely nothing – it was a foul-throw for the first goal, I might add.

“However, we need to defend better for both goals. We let ourselves down. Martin Mackinnon didn’t have a lot to do, and neither did their keeper (Dylan Maclean), although Martin was maybe a bit busier.

“We huffed and puffed in the second half, but it was all in the wrong areas. It is just not good enough.”

Clach are away to Inverurie Locos on Saturday, while it’s Banks o’ Dee at home for Nairn County.

Ciaran Young nets for Nairn County from an acute angle to make it 2-0 against Clach at Grant Street Park.

 

Conversation