Buckie Thistle boss Graeme Stewart thinks there are still plenty of twists and turns to come in the Breedon Highland League title race after the leaders drew 1-1 at home to Rothes.
Josh Peters’ quick response to Aidan Wilson’s second-half opener meant the Jags extended their lead at the head of the division to nine points – but a victory would have sent them 11 points clear.
Their title-rivals Brechin City, who were supposed to visit Keith on Saturday, found themselves again out of action due to the weather and now have four games in hand on Buckie.
Although both Buckie and Brechin – who meet at Victoria Park on the final day – will win the title if they win all of their remaining matches, Stewart admitted a victory against Rothes would have left his side in an enviable position.
However, he seemed pleased enough to end a busy week with a point, saying: “I’m quite happy with a lot of the performance. I thought we were good at times.
“The pitch isn’t great – with the way the weather is – and it probably doesn’t suit us in terms of moving the ball quickly.
“The goal was disappointing, but I thought they were really good defensively – it was kind of defence v attack. (Michael) Finnis for them had a great game and won just about everything which came into the box
“We kept the ball well without creating enough chances.
“We probably should win the game, but we concede a goal, come back and show a bit of character – we were just a bit short at the end.”
Stewart added: “I think it’s almost a 50/50 (between Buckie and Brechin).
“If we’d won today, you’d rather be in our position, no doubt about it. With us drawing, it’s made it back to about level.
“We’ve both got really hard games (to come), and I’d be surprised if either of us won all our games – obviously one of us won’t with the last game of the season.”
Buckie will get a well-earned rest before hosting Nairn next weekend, having claimed wins at Banks o’ Dee and then at Brora on Wednesday ahead of the stalemate with seventh-placed Rothes – a haul Stewart said he would have “taken”.
Main among Buckie subs as Jags take a while to get going
Retired goalkeeper Kevin Main was a surprise inclusion among the Buckie substitutes for the Rothes clash, after Balint Demus was recalled (at least temporarily) by Cove Rangers and Lee Herbert promoted to the starting line-up.
On 17 minutes, a short Buckie corner from the right allowed Max Barry to tee up Andy Macaskill inside the Rothes area. However, Macaskill scuffed his cross-goal shot badly from 10 yards and it went out for a throw-in on the left.
The home side had looked slightly uncertain in the early exchanges, almost letting Rothes in on a couple of occasions, but, on 25 minutes, the Jags almost took the lead in bizarre circumstances when a mis-hit attempt to flick the ball into the area from Macaskill came back off Sean McCarthy’s crossbar.
On 30 minutes, Macaskill slipped in Cohen Ramsay 18 yards out, but Ramsay’s curling effort was palmed round the right post by McCarthy, with Jack Murray heading straight at the goalie from the resultant corner.
The league leaders came out for the second half with an intensity which had been lacking at points during the opening period and had a great chance to take the lead when Barry’s flick on the 18-yard line sent Murray through on the Rothes goal. But the big defender lashed the ball high across the face of goal.
Sides score within moments of each other
Rothes’ resistance to Buckie’s efforts looked vital when Wilson fired home to make it 1-0 – following a rapid break where marauding right-back Jake Thomson outmuscled Jags defender Hamish Munro.
However, Buckie equalised immediately, with Peters drilling home low from just inside the box.
There followed hopeful shouts for a Buckie penalty on 64 minutes, when scorer Peters went down as he tried to go by Ben Johnstone, before Marcus Goodall skipped by a defender to go one-v-one with McCarthy – only to fire straight at the goalie.
In the aftermath, Buckie were again demanding a penalty after three players, Goodall among them, collided when the ball was delivered back into the box.
In the game’s final throes, the sides continued to hunt for a winner, but some excellent last-ditch defending from Buckie’s Munro, and Rothes duo Johnstone and Finnis, prevented much in the way of clear-cut openings.
Jack: ‘Everyone knows you’re at your most vulnerable when you’ve scored’
Rothes boss Ross Jack, who hailed the play for Wilson’s goal and will take his side to Turriff United on Wednesday, said: “If we’d frustrated them a bit longer, we might’ve came away with the three (points).
“Everyone knows you’re at your most vulnerable when you’ve scored a goal, but we just couldn’t keep it tight.”
He added: “Considering the number of players we lost at the last minute, I thought it was great battling performance from us, and I’m quite pleased to pick up a point.
“We had a few great counter-attacks where we could’ve done slightly better.”
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