Nairn County moved into sixth spot in the Breedon Highland League table with a 2-1 victory against Turriff United at a fogbound Station Park.
First half goals from Aaron Nicolson and Fraser Dingwall gave Nairn a two-goal cushion at the break before Turriff sub Ewan Clark reduced the leeway in second half.
Wee County assistant manager David Hind said: “I thought we did OK in the first half. We scored a couple of good goals and created lots of chances.
“We created more chances at the start of the second half and we are disappointed we didn’t kill them off.
“We allowed them back into the game and to be fair they put us under a fair bit of pressure.
“I wouldn’t say we were hanging on but there was always the chance they would get something from the game.
“I think overall we created enough chances and deserved to win the game.”
Quick one-two from hosts
Turriff made a bright start but it was Nairn who went ahead in the 19th minute.
Player-manager Steven Mackay whipped in a cross from the left and Nicolson nipped in to grab his first goal for the club.
Turriff came close to an equaliser on a couple of occasions with Dylan Stuart heading wide of the upright and Murray Cormack was denied by Nairn keeper Dylan MacLean when through on goal.
Nairn doubled their lead in the 32nd minute when a Nicolson shot crashed off the crossbar and his skipper Dingwall followed up to hammer home the rebound.
Turriff started to get on top and striker Neil Gauld was twice thwarted by MacLean.
68' | GOAL! Nairn County 2-1 Turriff United (@ewanclark7)
— Turriff United Football Club (@TurriffUnitedFC) November 4, 2023
The pressure paid off in the 69th minute when substitute Clark burst clear inside the area and fired an unstoppable shot past MacLean.
But try as they might Turriff failed to grab an equaliser as Nairn got the morale-booster they wanted in the build up to next weekend’s North Cup final against Ross County.
Turriff boss Warren Cummings said: “We were better in the second half and we did cause them a lot of problems.
“But we will have to make sure we eradicate the errors we made in the first half otherwise it is always going be difficult.
“We had chances but most importantly we gave them a leg up by conceding two soft goals. I’m more disappointed with that than with the chances we missed.”
Wick Academy 2-1 Inverurie Locos
Player-manager Gary Manson hopes Wick Academy’s dramatic victory against Inverurie Locos can inspire them to show more consistency.
The Scorries earned their third win of the campaign in the Breedon Highland League by defeating the Railwaymen 2-1 at Harmsworth Park thanks to Robert McLean’s stoppage time goal.
Prior to that Academy goalkeeper Graeme Williamson saved a penalty.
Manson said: “We’ve shown we can knock the ball about and play, but we had to grind it out and it pleases me that we were able to do it.
“We’re capable of putting in good performances, but then we’ve had some games where we’ve looked really poor.
“When it was 1-1 and the penalty was awarded it was looking like we’d take nothing out of the game.
“But Graeme made a great save and then to score late on was a great outcome.
“I’ve not heard a noise like it at Harmsworth Park in a long time and hopefully that can spur us on to try to find that wee bit of consistency.”
Action at both ends
Wick took the lead shortly after the half hour mark when a short corner routine ended with Jack Halliday cutting the ball back for Marc MacGregor to score from six yards.
Inverurie equalised on 82 minutes with Thomas Reid finishing at the back post from a Jamie Michie free-kick.
Five minutes later referee Owen Lawrence awarded the visitors a penalty for a shirt pull at a corner, but Williamson hurled himself to his right to claw away Myles Gaffney’s attempt.
86 minutes – penalty for Inverurie, taken by Myles Gaffney, saved by the keeper. Wafc 1 Ilwfc 1. pic.twitter.com/6ifQfBwi1d
— Wick Academy FC (@WickAcademyFC) November 4, 2023
In the dying embers McLean headed home Wick’s winner from Ross Gunn’s corner.
Locos are still looking for their first points under manager Dean Donaldson and included 17-year-old defender Milosz Ochmanski in their squad after he joined on loan from Cove.
Donaldson added: “I can’t be too critical, we’re lacking a bit of killer instinct, but at the same time I thought we played some good stuff.
“We’re disappointed to lose the game in the manner we did, but it felt like a step forward for us.
“Milosz is a talented young player who isn’t playing for Cove, we were looking for another left-sided defender and he fits into the style we want to play.”