Sam Morrison is delighted to be following in his father’s footsteps by playing for Strathspey Thistle and aims to help them get off the bottom of the Breedon Highland League.
The defender has joined the Grantown Jags on loan from Buckie Thistle for the rest of the season and is preparing to face league leaders Brora Rangers at Dudgeon Park on Wednesday night.
Morrison’s dad, Eddie, played for Strathspey during their junior days and Sam, 26, said: “As a family we’ve got a fair bit of history with Strathspey and it’s nice to add to that by playing for the club as well.
“My dad played for the club and was captain at one point, he was also on the committee was involved in the youth development programme.
“I vaguely remember going to watch him when I was young and I’ve known a lot of people connected to the club for a long time.
“If the worst was to happen and the club went down it would be a real blow to the area. Hopefully we can get away from the bottom of the table and keep the club in the league.”
Morrison has joined Strathspey in search of regular game time and played 70 minutes of Saturday’s defeat to Formartine United.
He added: “I haven’t played enough in the last couple of seasons for my liking.
“Myself and the Buckie manager Lewis MacKinnon had a good conversation and we felt it would be best for me to go on loan and get some regular game time.
“I stay in Aviemore so Strathspey are my local club and hopefully this move can suit all parties.”
Bunce aiming for great end to his best season
Meanwhile, Brora’s Connor Bunce regards this season as the best of his career and hopes to finish it in style by winning the Highland League.
The Cattachs are two points ahead of Brechin City at the top of the division, although they have played a game more, while the sides still have to clash at Dudgeon Park on March 15.
Attacker Bunce joined Brora in November from Clachnacuddin and netted his 20th goal of the campaign in the weekend win at Turriff.
The 23-year-old said: “This is the best season of my career individually and if we could go all the way and win the league that would be the perfect way to cap it off.
“That’s our aim and it’s what everyone has been working hard for, to try to win the league.
“I’m delighted with my goal return. I didn’t really think I was a 20 goal a season player because before this season my best was 12 goals.
“When I came to Brora there was that question about how much game time I would get and I was prepared to bide my time.
“But to play as much as I have has been great because I’m playing with some incredible players.”
News from around the Highland League
Elsewhere, Jack Mitchell is hoping to help Deveronvale bounce back to form when Fraserburgh visit Princess Royal Park on Wednesday night.
The Banffers were beaten 6-1 by Inverurie Locos on Friday, but the 18-year-old believes they can respond in a positive manner.
Mitchell has been a standout for Vale this term netting 11 goals as well as weighing in with 12 assists.
He said: “I’m pleased with my return so far this season, you want to be producing big numbers to try to help the team.
“It was a tough one to take on Friday and it will be another tough game against Fraserburgh, but hopefully we can bounce back and get a positive result.”
The Broch travel along the coast with a full squad.
Wick Academy are missing Brandon Sinclair, Jack Henry, Richard Macadie, David Allan, Owen Harrold, Alan Hughes, and Matthew Robertson for Clachnacuddin’s visit to Harmsworth Park.
The Lilywhites are without Joe Malin, Andrew Macrae and Ali Gillies.
Rothes tackle Forres Mechanics in a Moray derby at Mackessack Park, the Can-Cans are minus Ryan McRitchie and Corey Patterson.
Meanwhile, Turriff United have transfer-listed defender Adam Morrison.
The 32-year-old arrived at Haughs from Keith a year ago, but has now been made available for a move.
Morrison has also played for Junior clubs Dyce, Culter and Colony Park, but has struggled to get regular game time at Turra.
Brechin braced for ‘cup finals’
Kevin McHattie says Brechin City need to handle the heat of the Breedon Highland League title race as they aim to get back to winning ways.
The Hedgemen have drawn their last two fixtures ahead of facing Keith at Glebe Park on Wednesday night.
Brechin trail league leaders Brora Rangers by two points, but do have a game in hand.
Defender McHattie, 31, said: “When you’re challenging for the league you need to win most of your games and thrive on that challenge.
“We’ve got a challenge ahead of us, every game is a cup final from now until the end of the season.
“Every game we play the expectation is on us to win and you need to be able to handle that.”
Meanwhile, postponements have meant Keith have only played three times in 2025, with their last outing being a fortnight ago.
However, one positive for the Maroons is that striker Jake Stewart is close to returning from a knee injury which has kept him out since August.
Manager Craig Ewen said: “It’s been stop-start for us and we’re eager to get going again, hopefully we can put in a really competitive performance.
“It will take Jake time to get back up to speed, but he’s been training and he’s certainly an option to feature again.
“However, we need to be careful not to overdo things because he is just back from injury.
“Jake’s eager to get back playing and we’ve still got 13 games left so between now and the end of the season there will be opportunities for him.
“There’s no reason why he can’t finish the season strongly and hopefully Jake can get himself back to 100%.”
Dee have to push for strong finish – even if title may be out of reach
Banks o’ Dee co-manager Paul Lawson concedes they may have left themselves with too much to do in the title race – but he doesn’t want their league campaign to peter out.
The Aberdeen outfit host Formartine United at Spain Park on Wednesday night, following Saturday’s loss to Forres Mechanics Dee are six off points off the summit and have played a game more than table toppers Brora.
However, Lawson is still looking to for a good finish to the season and to at least cement third spot.
He said: “We were up against it and had ground to make up prior to Saturday, but Saturday’s result was a big blow there’s no doubt about that.
“However, we have to push ourselves to finish as best as we can.
“In the league third as a minimum would be the aim, you never know what could happen, the two teams above us might drop points.
“We just have to take care of our own business and see what happens, but we’re under no illusions about our position.
“The boys are raring to go, the performance on Saturday wasn’t good and we’re hoping to put that right.”
Formartine are sixth in the table and have won their last three matches in all competitions.
Boss Stuart Anderson has called on his charges to keep their standards up and added: “We want to keep hitting the levels we’ve been at since the turn of the year.
“I’ve been pleased with the level of performance and hopefully that continues.
“Our start to the season had an impact on our season, we were second bottom after five games.
“But over recent months there’s been a good level of consistency and we need to try to maintain that.”
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