A Callum Murray winner saw the winger secure a 2-1 victory over his former side and give Huntly their first home win over Forres Mechanics since February 2012.
Huntly move up to eighth but manager Allan Hale admitted it wasn’t their best performance.
He said: “I thought we were really poor. The pitch and conditions had a lot to do with that and we have had to adapt with team selection and how we’ve set the team up.
“First half we were miles off the level expected. We rode our luck at the start of the second half and then we scored a really good goal on the counter.
“Having asked midfielders to make that run, Ryan Sewell did it really well and showed composure to put the ball across goal and Callum (Murray) has gambled to finish it off well.”
Huntly took the lead after four minutes when Andrew Hunter netted his 12th goal of the season from a Cameron Blacklock corner.
— Huntly Football Club (@huntlyfc) March 4, 2023
Forres drew level on the half-hour mark. Andrew Skinner curled in a corner from the left and Connall Ewan converted from close range for his second goal in four games.
In the 57th minute, Michael Dangana played in Sewell who ran to the by-line before cutting the ball for Murray to turn in his sixth of the season at the back post.
Substitute Ben Barron passed up a great opportunity to earn his side a share of the points with a minute to go when he fired wide.
Huntly FC 2 – 1 Forres Mechanics FC pic.twitter.com/k7MP1Bv3Kx
— ForresMechanics F.C. (@TheCansOfficial) March 4, 2023
Forres manager Steven Macdonald said: “We lost another bad goal early on and gifted them a goal from a corner.
“After conceding we changed things about and looked by much the better team.
“To lose the game like we did was criminal, they’ve scored on the counter and it’s defeated us after we’ve hit the post and forced their keeper into some good saves.
“It’s been the same old story the last few games.”
Rothes 2-0 Nairn
Two brilliant finishes from Greg Morrison saw Rothes close the gap on sixth place Inverurie Locos to a single point with a game in hand thanks to a 2-0 win against Nairn County.
Speysiders boss Ross Jack said: “It was a good all-round performance.
“There is never a bad time to score goals, but the two we scored today came at perfect times.
“It ever a player deserved to score a double with two quality strikes, it’s Greg, as his work-rate is unbelievable.
“Greg’s second goal was a phenomenal finish.”
Rothes opened the scoring in the fourth minute when Morrison’s first-time effort from eight yards beat the diving Dylan MacLean .
The home side doubled their lead five minutes after the restart when keeper MacLean’s clearance only picked out Morrison who showed great composure to drill the ball into the bottom corner from 40 yards out.
County replied with a Kenny McKenzie angled drive into the side-netting before Country keeper Maclean did brilliantly to smother a point-blank Liam Shewan effort.
With three minutes to go, Nairn were reduced to 10 men when substitute Ciaran Young saw red after picking up his second yellow card in quick succession.
Referee Lewis Brown incurred the wrath of the visiting support as, of the nine yellow cards he issued, seven of them went to County players, and another to assistant-manager David Hind.
After the game, Hind said: “I thought we started the game relatively well and had a few opportunities to get some quality balls into the box.
“Then they break up the field, get a decent cross in and Greg Morrison scored, although I thought our keeper, Dylan MacLean, could have done better.
“After that we took the game to them and got into some good positions, but a lack of quality at the right time let us down.”
Clachnacuddin 2-1 Keith
Clach just edged this encounter winning by the odd goal in three, the victory taking them up to 12th spot in the table.
All three goals came in the first half, with Keith finally ending a 485-minute goal drought.
Clach manager Jordan Macdonald said: “We deserved the three points, the amount of clear-cut chances we missed has been the story of our season.
“Our second half performance really wasn’t good enough, but Keith didn’t really trouble us.
“Their goal in the first half was a deflection and I don’t think my goalie (Daniel Rae) had a save to make.
“We’re delighted to win, it’s a welcome three points and makes it three wins in a row at home.”
2-1
Finally pic.twitter.com/PDNu7FaJT4— Inverness Clachnacuddin FC (@clachfc) March 4, 2023
Keith played their part in an end to end first half. They fell behind with 17 minutes played, Lewis Mackenzie cutting in from the right wing to curl the ball into the top corner.
They stuck to their task though and equalised in the 36th minute, recent signing Gavin Elphinstone ending a driving run with his deflected shot landing in the net.
Barely five minutes later came the winning goal. Clach were awarded a free kick out on the left wing and when it was swung in, central defender Gary Warren got in first to quickly stab home from 12 yards.
Keith manager Craig Ewan said: “We are absolutely gutted, I don’t really understand how we lost that game.
“It was one-way traffic in the second half, we’ve had shots, the goalie’s had saves, we’ve hit the bar and we’ve had shots wide.
“We did everything but score.
“I don’t think in my time at Keith I’ve seen us create so many chances in a half, and to come away with nothing is a hard one to take.”
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