Strathspey Thistle boss Ryan Esson was pleased to take a point from their clash with Nairn County and move off the bottom of the Breedon Highland League.
It finished 1-1 at Seafield Park after the Grantown Jags weathered late pressure from the Wee County.
The point moves Strathspey above Rothes on goal difference at the foot of the division and they also still have two games in hand.
Esson said: “We rode our luck at times, but I felt in the first 25 minutes we could have scored two or three goals.
“Overall, that was more like us, Wednesday (7-0 loss to Brora) was definitely not what we’re about. It was a question of how we reacted to Wednesday and we reacted well.
“Sometimes you need a bit of luck, we haven’t had much this season and we got some on this occasion, I’m glad we picked up a point.
“Defending for your lives and digging in is what we should be expecting. When teams have good possession and create good chances that defensive effort needs to be there and I feel we can be proud of that.
“It’s a good point and we are where we are. We’ve got 12 games left and we’ll try to pick up as many points as we can.
“We’re not getting too far ahead or looking at anything else, all we can do is focus on us.”
Fast start for Thistle
Strathspey gained the upper hand early on in the contest and took the lead after 10 minutes
Daniel Whitehorn’s diagonal pass from left to right released Caelan Mutch in behind the visiting defence and he coolly slotted into the bottom right corner.
One negative for Strathspey was a hamstring injury sustained by Dylan Lawrence after half an hour.
Esson fears the problem could keep the striker out for the remainder of the season, which will limit Thistle’s attacking options as Paul Brindle is also sidelined with a calf problem.
Thistle came close to a second in the 38th minute when Mutch’s neat footwork and pass found Whitehorn, but Nairn goalkeeper Dylan MacLean did well to block the effort from 12 yards.
Having been disjointed in the first period County came to life a couple of minutes later as Andrew Greig crossed from the left and Ben Barron’s attempt from close range hit the right post and then goalkeeper Euan Storrier before bouncing to safety.
On the stroke of half-time Barron had another great opening. Scott Lisle crossed from the right, but from only a couple of yards out Barron was unable to bundle the ball into the net and Storrier clawed it to safety.
The visiting players felt the ball had crossed the line but referee Darren Munro was unmoved.
County come into it
After the break Nairn did most of the probing with Greig particularly prominent as their main creative source.
Strathspey’s only attacking foray of note in the second period was in the 63rd minute when Liam Shewan’s blocked shot from 12 yards sparked a stramash inside the penalty area before County smuggled the ball away.
In the 77th minute Nairn almost equalised. Millar Gamble met a Greig corner from the left and teed up sub Brodie Watson, but his header came back off the right post and Storrier did well to smother Lisle’s follow-up.
But Strathspey’s resistance was broken six minutes later when Greig danced down the left flank and crossed for Lisle to head into the net at the back post.
Nairn pushed for the winner after that and Storrier made routine saves to repel Watson, Lisle and sub Ben Kelly.
County rue missed chances
Nairn interim manager Brian Macleod said: “I don’t think we played particularly well. In the first half hour we weren’t good at all, we didn’t win enough first or second balls and we were really poor in possession.
“Despite that we missed two big chances in the first half.
“I thought we were a lot better in the last 25 minutes. We were forcing the issue and trying to win it, but it wouldn’t drop for us.
“I’m disappointed with the performance but over the piece with the chances we created we should have won the game.”
Nairn lost captain Fraser Dingwall to a hamstring problem midway through the second half.
Macleod added: “Fraser’s been struggling with it and has just been getting through.
“We were unsure whether to play him, but he was wanting to play and felt he could get through it.
“It got too much for him in the end but hopefully it’s not too bad.”
Huntly 2-0 Formartine United
Huntly recorded their first ever home league victory over Formartine United at the 16th time of asking as two Angus Grant goals proved to be the difference between the teams.
The Huntly 2004-05 title-winning team were back together at Christie Park as guests of honour at the match.
Grant took his tally of goals to 30 for the season so far as he netted the opener after 21 minutes, showing lovely control to collect a Callum Murray pass to score from 14 yards.
He grabbed the decisive second goal 15 minutes from time as his 20-yard free kick took a wicked deflection off the United wall to leave goalkeeper Ewen Macdonald helpless.
Huntly manager Colin Charlesworth was full of praise, not only for his striker but the whole squad as they returned to action after a lengthy weather enforced lay-off.
He said: “It was an impressive performance and I thought we were good value for the win.
“We threatened on the counter-attack as we knew Formartine are a difficult team to break down.
“We have been dormant for quite a while and you can train as hard as you want but it doesn’t replicate games so it was understandable some players were feeling the effects towards the end of the game.
“Getting to 30 goals for Angus is impressive and really good numbers, especially as we are only in the middle of February with 13 games to play and he fancies himself to score.
“Sam Robertson was the perfect foil for him and they linked up really well throughout the game.”
Formartine manager Stuart Anderson said: “To be honest we huffed and puffed and they got ahead with a counter-attack with the second goal being a deflected free kick.
“The biggest disappointment is we didn’t create enough on the day so we need to dust ourselves down and hopefully get some of our injured players back.”
Huntly defender Ross Still came off with the game in injury time to a loud reception from the home fans as he played his last game before emigrating to Australia this weekend.
Banks o’ Dee 3-0 Clachnacuddin
Banks o’ Dee co-manager Josh Winton praised his side’s controlled performance after they claimed a 3-0 victory over Clachnacuddin.
The Lilywhites were reduced to 10 men after a straight red card was shown to captain Harry Nicolson, with goals from Lachie MacLeod, Jevan Anderson and Max Alexander securing all three points for Dee.
Upon reflection of the match, Winton was pleased his team stuck to their principles.
He said: “I thought it was a very controlled performance, Clachnacuddin never caused us many problems and that is testament to the work rate of the team and their shape.
“Right from the front we defended well, pressing Clachnacuddin’s back four with intensity. It’s important for us to maintain a clean sheet and I am pleased we managed to do so today.
“There were definitely some tired legs at the end of the game there, it’s been tough playing three games in a week. I am pleased we could still take all three points.”
Banks o’ Dee started as the brighter team and took an early lead in the 10th minute, when Josh Meekings’ headed pass-back fell to the feet of MacLeod, who rounded Logan Ross before slotting home the opener.
The decisive moment came on the hour mark, when Nicolson received his marching orders for pulling back Liam Duell who was deemed to be through on goal.
The resulting attack culminated in a second Dee goal, this time through Anderson. The defender made it two goals in as many games after nodding home from a corner.
Banks o’ Dee made it three moments before the full-time whistle, with Alexander turning in Duell’s low cross at the back post.
Clachnacuddin boss Conor Gethins was disappointed with the lack of urgency from his team.
He said “It’s unfortunate that a mistake had us on the back foot early on, but we tried to press on and create chances.
“The second half was the same. Banks o’ Dee came out and put us under pressure for 15 minutes, they got their goal, and we were reduced to ten men – it was game over after that.
“We can’t be too disheartened, the boys have put a lot of work in, and we’ve had a very busy week of travelling.
“It’s important we bounce back and be bold, we’ve got a tough run to the end of the season, but we have our aims, and we are all working hard to achieve them.”
Brora Rangers 5-0 Deveronvale
Brora Rangers continued their strong form in the first match of their double-header against Deveronvale.
Cattachs manager Steven Mackay was delighted with how his players took control following the sending off of Tobias Davies-Browne early in the second half.
Brora are four points clear at the top of the Breedon Highland League having played a game more than second-placed Brechin City.
Mackay said: “We played really well, Deveronvale were definitely in the game up until the sending off and it was a close contest.
“After the sending off it was one-way traffic and we were in the ascendancy.
“I was pleased to get another clean sheet. We limited them to very few opportunities. I’m really happy with the performance and the result.”
Williamson gets the ball rolling
Within five minutes the deadlock was broken. Shane Sutherland held off defenders inside the box and laid the ball off to Tony Dingwall whose drilled cross was tucked away smartly by Colin Williamson.
Just before the break Vale’s Jamie MacLellan headed narrowly wide from a corner after a misjudgement from Brora goalkeeper Cammy Mackay.
The visitors were reduced to 10 men on 51 minutes when Davies-Browne earned a second yellow card for a foul on Tom Kelly.
From the free-kick Dingwall clipped a great ball into the box and Sutherland nodded home.
The third arrived minutes later with Williamson finding Connor Bunce on the left-hand side, his cross landed at the back post and Max Ewan was on hand to squeeze the ball past goalkeeper Ethan Hopkinson.
Within two minutes of coming on sub Alex Cooper made his mark, Sutherland found him outside the box and his effort found the corner.
With 15 minutes left Cooper scored again, finding the top corner from a Bunce cut-back.
The sides will meet again on Saturday at Princess Royal Park in the semi-final of the R Davidson (Banchory) Highland League Cup.
Deveronvale player-manager Garry Wood felt they were in the game, but that individual errors gave them a mountain to climb.
He added: “We didn’t make it easy with individual errors and Brora were worthy winners.
“We contained them in the first half, but after they scored the second they took control.
“We had a good spell in the second half but once you go down to 10 men it’s a really difficult game.”
Rothes 2-3 Brechin City
Brechin City got back to winning ways with a narrow 3-2 victory over Rothes at Mackessack Park.
It took the Speysiders just 40 seconds to open the scoring when Thomas Brady sprung City’s offside trap and kept his composure before drilling home a right-foot drive.
However the visitors fought back to equalise 11 minutes later when Cilian Sheridan poked the ball home after a Ewan Loudon shot had been spilled by home keeper Sean McCarthy.
Brechin grabbed the lead in the 34th minute when Spencer Moreland fired home following a Dayle Robertson pass.
Brechin looked to have wrapped up the points a minute into the second half when a close-range Brad McKay header made it 3-1.
The visitors were reduced to 10 men when Loudon was sent off for deliberate handball in the penalty-box in the 72nd minute but Andrew Skinner’s spot-kick was well saved by Lenny Wilson.
However, the Speysiders battled on and when they pulled a goal back three minutes from time through Shaun Morrison it made it a nervy final few minutes for the visitors who managed to hold on a for an important victory.
Brechin boss Patrick Cregg said: “Once again, we’d enough chances to win five games.
“Towards the end we’d a man sent off and Rothes pulled a goal back which to be honest I thought was offside by a considerable margin.
“But I have to give the players credit for the resilience they showed towards the end because we knew it was a game we had to win.
“It was just so frustrating that our victory wasn’t’t more emphatic given the number of goal-scoring opportunities we had.
“It was important that we got a victory after three successive draws so let’s embrace it and go on a winning run.”
Rothes manager Ronnie Sharp felt that the lack of experience in his young side contributed to their defeat.
“I’m disappointed that we didn’t manage to get a point,” he said.
“You could argue that the penalty we missed was a turning point but I felt that the goal we lost just after half-time was the thing that set us back and gave Brechin the cushion.
“We’re a very young team and wrong decisions cost us but unfortunately when you have a team of youngsters these things happen.”
Fraserburgh 5-0 Lossiemouth
Mark Cowie praised Fraserburgh’s ruthlessness after they triumphed 5-0 against Lossiemouth at Bellslea.
Logan Watt got the ball rolling for the Broch after quarter of an hour when he tapped home Ross Aitken’s cross from the right.
Connor Wood also hit the crossbar for the hosts in the first period before they wrapped the game up midway through the second half.
Good play on the left culminated in Aidan Sopel curling home the second goal and soon after Sopel capitalised on substitute goalkeeper Arran Anderson – who replaced the injured Stuart Knight just after the interval – spilling a cross to make it three.
Lewis McAndrew’s short passback allowed Fraser Mackie to go through and nutmeg Anderson for the fourth on 82 minutes and in the dying embers Bryan Hay volleyed in Greg Buchan’s corner.
Manager Cowie said: “There was some really good play and I’m happy with the performance and the result.
“We’ve wanted to be more clinical at times this season and we got that in the second half. The clean sheet is also pleasing because we haven’t had many of them this season.
“I think you need lots of players contributing and we’ve got that. The more players you have that can score goals, the better.
“Scott Barbour has been the best in the league for years, Sean Butcher is good aerially, Fraser Mackie and Connor Wood have got pace, there’s Aidan Sopel trickery and Logan Watt’s got an unbelievable knack of being in the right place at the right time.”
Errors cost Coasters
Lossie boss Steve Porter said: “In the first half we didn’t really compete as well we wanted and we weren’t aggressive enough.
“However, 1-0 at half-time was OK and we were still in the game, but in the second half we were really poor and made a lot of individual mistakes.
“Fraserburgh are a good side, but we gave them goals too easily and we didn’t look sharp enough.”
Wick Academy 3-1 Forres Mechanics
Gary Manson is looking for Wick Academy to maintain their performance levels following their 3-1 victory against Forres Mechanics at Harmsworth Park.
Manager Manson felt this Scorries’ success was a just reward for another solid display.
He said: “I was really pleased for the boys, they played well and I felt the win was thoroughly deserved.
“I’m pleased with the performance levels from the boys in the last few games, especially when you consider our absentees (Richard Macadie, David Allan, Jack Henry, Owen Harrold and Alan Hughes).
“Although we’ve only taken four points from the last four games I feel we’ve played well in all four games.
“Hopefully we can keep the performance levels up for the run-in, our games aren’t too bad and we’ve got some decent opportunities to pick up more points.
“The boys know what’s expected of and hopefully they can keep delivering.”
Rendall opens his account
Wick broke the deadlock on nine minutes. Kyle Henderson’s delivery from the right was flicked goalwards by Marc MacGregor and although goalkeeper Jack Robertson saved, Owen Rendall scored on the rebound from close range for his first Academy goal.
Just after the half hour mark Henderson’s pass set-up Mark Macadie and he finished tidily to double the Scorries’ advantage.
A couple of minutes into the second half MacGregor released Henderson on the right and he squared for the ball for MacGregor to net with a low first time finish.
Forres got a goal back on 64 minutes when Liam Grant got forward on the left before drilling a shot into the net from the edge of the box.
Can-Cans boss Steven MacDonald said: “It was a heavy pitch and Wick handled the conditions much better than we did.
“We didn’t really turn up on the day. It’s important the boys learn from that and learn how to handle that kind of situation better because we didn’t handle it well enough.
“There were too many boys well off it for ourselves which is disappointing because it was a game we really wanted to win.”
Inverurie Locos 1-0 Keith
Fourth-placed Inverurie Locos earned their fifth straight win in a row and hit the 50 points mark to move five ahead of Clachnacuddin with a 1-0 win against Keith.
Lloyd Robertson was on hand to scramble home the game’s only goal five minutes from the interval when a left wing corner came to him at the near post in a crowded area.
Locos boss Dean Donaldson said: “I was not happy with the performance but happy to get the three points.
“I was happy to get the win, to get it over and done with but the wind had an effect on the game and made it a poor spectacle
“It was more a case of working off first and second balls, the pitch wasn’t allowing three or four passes to be strung together
“The pitch is worn, we’re trying to bring the right type of football to the club but will generally struggle with the pitch in that condition.
“It was another shut out, a good 25th birthday for our goalkeeper Zack Ellis, but Keith really worked hard. You wouldn’t gave thought they’d had a tough midweek game.”
Keith manager Craig Ewen, who was red carded late on after criticising referee Lewis Brown, said: “I thought we were really poor in the first half with the sun and wind at our backs. We were ineffectual and passive.
“All over the pitch our touch was heavy, some may put that down to us having a tough midweek game away at Brechin
“In the second half I was pleased, we tried to take the game to Locos and I felt we created opportunities.
“We just couldn’t find a way to score a goal. Over the piece Locos did enough to win the game so fair play to them.”
On his red card, Ewen added: “I was aggrieved as it was Mark Souter’s fifth foul, and he hadn’t been yellow carded.
“I didn’t feel I was bringing overly super aggressive in my criticism.
“I felt he could’ve easily come over to me and shown a yellow but decided to make it a red so that’s football.”
Turriff United 1-1 Buckie Thistle
A stunning late equaliser from Innes McKay gave champions Buckie Thistle a share of the points against a determined Turriff United side at The Haughs.
Reece McKeown had put United in front midway through the second half and boss Warren Cummings was pleased with the effort put in by his team.
He said: “We showed great energy and appetite in all sides of the game, it was never going to be a great spectacle on a difficult pitch, but it was a game played in good spirit by both teams.
“In all honesty, on the balance of play I think a draw was a fair result. My only disappointment is losing a goal at a set-piece after defending so diligently throughout.”
Lyall Keir missed a good chance to open the scoring on four minutes, but he was denied by a fine block from Lee Herbert when clean through on the right of the penalty area.
The excellent Kevin Fraser also got in behind the home defence seven minutes before the break, but no one could get on the end of his low ball across goal and Cohen Ramsay fired wide at the far post.
Ryan Fyffe missed a chance at the back post from an Andy MacAskill corner, before substitute Sam Pugh went closest to an opener when he cracked a volley off the base of the post from 16 yards.
Turriff went ahead against the run of play on 68 minutes, McKeown played in behind after good work from Mackenzie Taylor and he fired low beyond Mark Ridgers from 16 yards.
Buckie levelled seven minutes from time with a stunning goal, substitute Joe McCabe heading MacAskill’s free kick across goal and Innes McKay sent a spectacular overhead kick high past Herbert.
Marcus Goodall missed the chance to win it in injury time when he couldn’t connect at the far post from McCabe’s flick on.
Buckie boss Lewis MacKinnon was frustrated with the result.
He said: “In the first half we didn’t play to the conditions that we talked out before the game; we tried to play too much football on a difficult surface.
“The second half was much better and we were camped in their half, but we lost a poor goal that we should be good enough to deal with at the back.
“They showed good resilience to keep going though, and it took a ‘worldie’ from Innes to get us level.
“We need to be more clinical and take our chances in front of goal.”
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