Craig Mackenzie’s 18-yard first half strike looked to have given Forres Mechanics a second Breedon Highland League win on the spin – but Ryan Stuart hit back in stoppage time to earn Lossiemouth a 1-1 draw.
Mechanics assistant manager Stephen MacLean thought, had his side converted their chances, they could chalked up a comfortable victory at Mosset Park.
After a result which means Forres and Lossie are still separated by just one point in 11th and 12th place, MacLean said: “It is very disappointing, but that’s what Lossie do, they stay in the game as long as they can.
“We weren’t very good in the first half, but I feel in the second half we created enough chances to win the game comfortably.
“I think that had we gone 2-0 up, we might have finished up scoring three or four, but we let ourselves down defensively by conceding that late goal, in what I think was their first attempt on goal.
“But you have to credit Lossiemouth for staying in the game.”
Coasters manager Frank McGettrick paid tribute to his players for sticking to their task, and said: “I thought that over the 90 minutes a draw was just about a fair result.
“We went in 1-0 down at half-time, even though we had two or three chances, including one which hit the bar. We could have been a couple of goals up, but that didn’t happen.
“I don’t think we played that well in the second half, Forres were the better team and our keeper Cammy Farquhar made two or three great saves to keep us in the game at 1-0.
“We went with two up-top for the last half hour and went with a back three. We kept working at it and it was a great ball from Jared Kennedy for another substitute Ryan Stuart to provide a great finish.”
In the fourth minute, the Coasters almost opened the scoring, but Brandon Hutcheson’s six-yard header came back off the face of the crossbar.
It then took a brilliant diving block by Cammy Farquhar in the Lossie goal to stop Shaun Morrison’s 12-yard drive from giving the Can-Cans the lead.
But the deadlock was broken in the 40th minute when the ball broke to Mechanics’ midfielder Mackenzie on the edge of the box and he sent a ferocious drive into the far corner of the net.
Forres passed up three gilt-edged chances in the space of two minutes in the second period. Lee Fraser hit the post with a towering header, while Mark McLauchlan and Ethan Cairns forced keeper Farquhar into making a couple of brilliant diving saves.
Forres substitute Calum Frame then should have done better than fire over when put through, and seconds later Morrison forced another fine diving save from Farquhar with a low 12-yard effort.
In the first minute of stoppage time, Mechanics paid for their profligacy, Lossie levelling when substitute Stuart sent a diving header past the helpless Herbert and into the far corner of the net.
Brora return from cold storage to beat Rothes in tight encounter
Brora Rangers beat Rothes 1-0 at Dudgeon Park after the playing surface came through a pitch inspection.
Brora Rangers boss Ally Macdonald said: “I’m delighted to get three points, especially since we haven’t had a game for three weeks.
“We probably weren’t at our best, but it is hard to be 100% when you’ve not played games.
“Rothes sat in to hit us on the break, but we are happy to get another win and keep climbing the table.”
Brora claimed for a penalty in the first minute which was waved away by the referee Gordon Morrison.
In the 14th minute, Colin Williamson had a header tipped over the bar by Rothes goalkeeper Sean McCarthy.
However, the resulting corner hit off by Jordan MacRae and rolled into the net to make it 1-0 to the home side.
Rothes were a little more adventurous towards the end of the half, and Aidan Wilson hit the bar with cross-cum-shot.
In the second half, former Brora player Greg Morrison only had his ex-teammate Macdonald to beat on the counter-attack, but the Cattachs player/manager used his experience to snuff out the danger.
Rothes manager Ross Jack said: “The better team won, but we made it very tough for them.
“The last thing we want is a hard-luck story. I am disappointed with the result, but happy with the performance.”
Vale and Wick play out 0-0 draw
Deveronvale and Wick Academy picked up a point apiece as neither side could find the target in a game of little goalmouth action.
Antonio Jam had an early chance for Vale, but failed to connect with Harry Noble’s left wing cross, while Marc MacGregor fired wide for the visitors in their best opportunity.
Vale had the larger share of possession and Jack Mitchell created some openings, but Wick were resolute in defence.
Neither manager was happy with the result, and Vale manager Craig Stewart felt his strikers could have done better on the day.
He said: “I am disappointed with the draw, but not overly disappointed with the performance. My main worry was that we couldn’t convert some of the chances we had due to not being hungry enough to score a goal.
“We got into some great positions, but upfront we are powder puff, which is the honest truth and we know that this has been the case for a while, but this game really showed it.
“I thought we controlled the majority of the game, but my main positive from the game was a clean sheet, as the boys defended brilliantly on the day”.
Wick manager Gary Manson was also pleased to see his team record a clean sheet.
He said: “I was really upset at half-time watching what was a debacle of a first half between the two teams. Both teams could have played all night and not scored.
“The second half was slightly better, and while we created a few scoring opportunities, with them doing the same, both sides failed to deliver any quality inside the box as the game turned into a slugfest.
“We will take the point.”
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