Buckie Thistle claimed all three points to move two points clear at the top of the Highland League thanks to a hard-fought 3-0 win against Keith at Victoria Park.
Jags boss Graeme Stewart was delighted to see his side win after a sluggish start.
He said: “Keith made it hard for us, I was impressed with their workrate, but we matched them and, over the piece, we deserved the win, though we could have played better.
“We were taking too many touches in the first half. They were told before the game it was more about the result than the performance and we told them at half-time to speed it up, which they did.
“Maybe the reason we didn’t play so well was down to the way Keith played.”
Buckie dig deep to overcome Keith
The Maroons competed well against the Jags in the first half, but a slack pass from Dem Yunus on the edge of his own box resulted in Niz Abdulkarim conceding a free-kick which Buckie’s Jack Murray converted for his 10th goal of the season.
Jags doubled their lad in the 63rd minute when Sam Pugh fired home from the edge of the box after the Maroons had failed to clear a corner.
A handball on the line by Maroons’ Murray Addison resulted in him conceding a penalty and receiving a red card in the final minute before Andy Macaskill converted the spot kick for the home side.
Keith manager Craig Ewen said: “We defended resolutely throughout the game, and we kept our shape and concentration levels up.
“We got caught for the first goal, but this is a tough venue to come to and the defenders did well, though losing the third goal with the last kick and the red card for Murray was a sore one.”
Brechin fail to score at Nairn
Buckie are now clear at the top after Brechin failed to score for the first time this season in a goalless draw at Nairn County.
It was a frustrating afternoon for the visitors who finished the game with 10-men following Kevin McHattie’s dismissal for a second yellow card by referee Gordon Morrison.
City boss Andy Kirk was also booked for voicing his displeasure from the sidelines.
The Brechin manager, after a result which meant the Hedgemen hit the milestone of a calendar year without tasting Highland League defeat, said: “I thought we were really poor.
“It was a really poor performance in terms of winning second balls and we didn’t compete enough over the course of the 90 minutes.
“There wasn’t much in the game, but we didn’t create enough opportunities and didn’t test Nairn’s keeper nearly enough.
“We were up against a lot of factors which I don’t really want to go into, but it was an extremely disappointing afternoon.
“We came here determined to win the game, but we never looked like doing that.”
Mackay pleased with strong showing against Hedgemen
While there was disappointment for Brechin, County boss Steven Mackay was full of praise for his side’s committed display against Brechin.
He said: “It was really important that we bounced right back from last week’s massively disappointing draw at Strathspey Thistle where we didn’t reach anything like the standards we’ve set ourselves.
“The players certainly responded well against a side who haven’t lost a league game all season.
“We set out to restrict space and frustrate Brechin and, when we did get the ball, to be aggressive on the counter-attack, and I thought that the boys executed that plan really well.
“We did due diligence on Brechin and knew how they like to play and we worked really hard to restrict the space they had particularly in the final third.
“Having said that, we didn’t just want it to be a backs-to-the-wall, ultra-defensive performance, and over the piece we had as much in the way of chances as Brechin so all in all I thought that a draw was a fair result.”
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