Andrew Greig has been pleased to prove he can still cause problems for opposition defences as he tries to plot a path for Nairn County into the R Davidson (Banchory) Highland League Cup quarter-finals.
The Wee County face Banks o’ Dee in the first round at Station Park this afternoon with winger Greig in fine form.
The 31-year-old has returned to action this season after tearing his meniscus in March 2023.
Greig has netted seven goals this term, including a brace in last weekend’s victory against Wick Academy.
He said: “I’ve been happy enough with how I’m doing this season after being out for so long.
“I’m happy to be back playing. When you’ve been out you doubt yourself and you wonder how you’ll do when you come back.
“I didn’t put any expectation on myself but I’ve slotted back in and I’ve played more than I thought I might which has been really pleasing.
“I’m not as quick as I used to be so I need to find other ways to beat defenders. But you find other ways and you problem solve.”
Given that they’re 11th in the Breedon Highland League, the Highland League Cup is realistically Nairn’s last chance this season to win silverware.
Greig, who has triumphed in the competition with Brora Rangers and Formartine United, added: “The Highland League Cup is very important for us.
“We haven’t started as well as we wanted in the league and we’re out of the Scottish Cup and the North of Scotland Cup.
“This is a huge game for ourselves, but we expect a really tough game.
“We’ve got a lot of talent in our team and on our day I think we can beat anyone.
“For whatever reason there are some games where it hasn’t clicked for us this season and there’s been a lack of consistency. But we’ve had some really good results as well.”
Alexander seeks Dee response
Banks o’ Dee’s defence of the Morrison Motors (Turriff) Aberdeenshire Shield ended against Deveronvale on Wednesday.
Attacker Max Alexander is determined to bounce back in another cup competition and said: “We wanted to hold onto the Shield so it was disappointing to be knocked out.
“This is a very big game, we want to try to have success in the cups and we need to try to get through in the League Cup and put things right.
“We’ve got this cup tie and then the Aberdeenshire Cup final next weekend so they’re big opportunities for us.”
The match in midweek was Alexander’s first involvement for a month after a frustrating injury to his ring finger.
The 32-year-old added: “I dislocated my finger in two places and fractured it so I had to get an operation.
“That kept me out for four weeks, I had a pin in my finger which came out on Wednesday.
“I’m back now so hopefully I can get up and running again.”
News from around the Highland League
Elsewhere, in the Highland League Cup Ronnie Sharp will take charge of Rothes for the first time when Formartine United visit Mackessack Park.
The likes of Greg Morrison, Gregor MacDonald, Allen Mackenzie and Ben Johnstone are still out for the Speysiders. Johnny Crawford is missing for United, but Scott Adams, Michael Dangana and Matthew McLean are back.
Brechin City have signed former Cowdenbeath, Forfar Athletic, Raith Rovers and Montrose midfielder Lewis Milne on loan from Stirling Albion until the end of the season ahead of their tie against Inverurie Locos at Glebe Park.
Anthony McDonald and Scott Logan face fitness tests for the Hedgemen, while the Railwaymen are without Greg Mitchell and Sam Burnett.
Lossiemouth tackle Deveronvale at Grant Park. Ryan Farquhar and Baylee Campbell are absent for the Coasters, while player-manager Garry Wood is a doubt for the Banffers.
Huntly meet Wick Academy at Christie Park with Zander Jack and Fin Allen set for fitness tests, but Angus Grant looks likely to return.
Alan Hughes, Brandon Sinclair, Owen Harrold, Matthew Robertson, Callan Jessiman, Ross Gunn and Jack Henry are out for the Scorries.
Fraserburgh are missing Connor Wood and Marley Sweenie-Rowe for Forres Mechanics’ visit to Bellslea. The Can-Cans are without Charlie Macdonald and Matt Jamieson, but Kaiden Connolly and Liam Grant return.
- Meanwhile the draw for the quarter-finals of the Highland League Cup – which will be played on Saturday December 7 – will be made on Tuesday at 4pm at R Davidson’s headquarters in Banchory. Golfers Paul Lawrie and Sam Locke will be doing the draw which will be streamed live on R Davidson’s Facebook page.
Jags ready for important run
Lewis MacKinnon wants November to be the month that ignites Buckie Thistle’s season.
The Jags tackle Clachnacuddin at Victoria Park today in the first round of the R Davidson (Banchory) Highland League Cup.
Later this month Buckie face Hermes in the Morrison Motors (Turriff) Aberdeenshire Shield quarter-finals, Clydebank in the third round of the Scottish Cup, as well as Keith and Nairn County in the Breedon Highland League, as manager MacKinnon looks to improve on their current position of eighth.
He said: “This month is huge for us and could ignite our season. In these cup competitions our target is to reach finals and to try to win things.
“We want to do well in the League Cup and Shield and try to get a good run going in the league heading into the Scottish Cup at the end of the month.
“It could be a very good month for us, however, I’ve got a lot of respect for Clach and this will be a very tough game.”
Clach have already reached the North of Scotland Cup final this season and manager Conor Gethins would love another cup run.
He added: “If we could get through it would be another step in the right direction for us as a group.
“We’ve spoken about trying to get runs in the cups because we know we’re not going to be challenging to win the league.
“But cup runs can bring a bit of excitement, we saw that getting to the North of Scotland Cup final, a lot of people turned out to support Clach.
“It would be nice for the club and the fans if we could get to the latter stages of this competition as well, but it will be a tough ask.”
Holders Brora ready for Keith rematch
Boss Steven Mackay says R Davidson (Banchory) Highland League Cup holders Brora Rangers are wary of first round opponents Keith as they look to defend their crown.
The Maroons inflicted the Cattachs’ first defeat of the season with a 3-2 Breedon Highland League triumph at Dudgeon Park in August.
Ahead of today’s cup encounter at Kynoch Park Mackay is desperate to avoid a repeat performance.
He said: “We’re wary of Keith because they showed what they could do at Dudgeon Park.
“The last time I do think there was a little bit of complacency, which we’ve since flushed out of our system and we don’t want it to return.
“We’re on a good run (seven games unbeaten) and we want to keep it going, it’s maybe facetious to say it but the last game is motivation for us.
“We don’t want a repeat of what happened the last time we played Keith and we’ll look to make amends.”
Keith manager Craig Ewen hopes his charges take belief from their last clash with Brora as they try to spring another surprise.
He added: “Brora are flying at the moment and they’re an excellent team.
“We’re expecting a difficult game, we’ve done well in our last couple of league games (winning them both) and it’s a bit of a free hit for us really.
“We’re underdogs, but we have got the ability on our day to cause a surprise, but we’ve been inconsistent.
“We’ll give it our best shot and see where that takes us. If we could get through it would give us some momentum and would provide us with a lot of positivity.”
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