Manager Steven Mackay hailed goalkeeper Cammy Mackay for his part in keeping Brora Rangers’ Breedon Highland League title challenge on track.
After overcoming Huntly 2-0 at Dudgeon Park the Cattachs will be crowned champions if they can defeat Rothes at home on Saturday in their final league game.
Brechin City are level on points with Brora, but the Sutherland side are 29 better off on goal difference.
Second half goals from Craig MacKenzie and Shane Sutherland earned the Cattachs victory against the Black and Golds, but boss Mackay admitted it was far from plain sailing.
Mackay delivers when it matters
Goalkeeper Mackay, who signed last summer after leaving Inverness Caledonian Thistle, made three tremendous saves to deny Huntly when the score was 0-0.
Steven Mackay said: “It was a nerve-wracking occasion, we didn’t play well at all in the first half and we did look nervous.
“I think it’s natural because it was a massive game. As much as we can play it down, it was a huge game which we had to win.
“Huntly came and frustrated us, I think they were looking to make amends after the result a few weeks ago (5-0 Brora win at Christie Park on March 26).
“They played really well, huge credit to Huntly because they made us work hard for our victory.
“The reality is that if it wasn’t for Cammy Mackay we wouldn’t have had a 2-0 victory.
“That’s the value of having a goalkeeper like Cammy and that’s why we worked so hard last summer to get someone of his calibre and experience.
“We saw the importance of that because it’s not just one save he’s made, it’s three and they’re huge moments in the game.
“Huntly will probably look back and feel they should have scored at least one of them.
“If they had then the game takes on a whole different dimension – but thankfully Cammy’s made the saves and we rode our luck which sometimes you have to do.”
Still work to do for Brora
Looking ahead to next weekend’s decider against Rothes, Mackay added: “We’ve worked so hard to get into this position and it’s not over yet.
“We’ve got another home game against Rothes which will be another tense affair because it’s a game we have to win.
“I’m really pleased to get through this game, but we’re taking nothing for granted.”
Brora could have been ahead after five minutes, but the stretching MacKenzie shot wide from six yards after Matthew Wright cut the ball back from the right.
Huntly showed admirable discipline within their shape and worked hard to restrict their hosts’ opportunities in the first period, and they did just that for long spells.
When the Black and Golds got forward they also posed a threat. Brodie Allen and Sam Robertson stung Cammy Mackay’s palms from long range, before the custodian made a superb save just shy of the half hour mark.
Lewis Crosbie’s delivery to the back post found Cameron Heslop inside the six-yard box, but Mackay blocked brilliantly with his legs.
Before the first period was over Brora’s Alex Cooper was a whisker away with a curling free-kick from the edge of the box.
Big moments at both ends
After the interval Cooper had an effort deflected narrowly wide and Sutherland had a header held by goalkeeper Calum Brodie.
However, Huntly remained a threat and on 57 minutes Callum Murray burst down the left and picked out Crosbie with his centre. The midfielder’s 18-yard shot looked net-bound, but Mackay dived high to his left to claw the ball away.
Two minutes later Crosbie slipped Allen through on goal and this time Mackay raced off his line and made an excellent block.
After Tony Dingwall’s 25-yard free-kick was tipped over by Brodie, Brora made Huntly pay for their profligacy in the 69th minute.
Substitute Max Ewan crossed from the right and MacKenzie steered a fine first time finish into the bottom right corner from 12 yards.
Having taken the lead the Cattachs played with more freedom and went in search of a second goal.
Ewan’s looping header following a Dingwall corner hit the top of the crossbar before Brodie gathered, the visiting keeper also blocked an effort from sub James Wallace and MacKenzie fired wide from 10 yards.
However, 10 minutes from time Brora secured the points when Cooper crossed from the left and Sutherland glanced a header into the net off the right post.
Charlesworth rues fine margins
Huntly are without a win in six matches and manager Colin Charlesworth was left wondering what might have been.
He said: “Brora started quick, which we knew they would given the end goal they’re chasing.
“We had to be alert to contain them, but as the game went on we grew into it.
“We had three or four of the best chances, fair play to their goalkeeper he stepped up at big times and played his part in winning the game.
“The fact he got man of the match tells a story in itself. We have a sense of pride in our performance, but nothing to show for it at the end.
“I think Brora scored against the run of play, but after that they had a spell on top and they got another goal.
“Those are the fine margins and that’s what champions do.”
Brechin City 3-0 Nairn County
Brechin City kept up the pressure on league leaders Brora Rangers with a comfortable and deserved 3-0 victory over Nairn County at Glebe Park.
City dominated the opening stages and broke the deadlock in the 30th minute when a Fraser MacLeod corner was headed on by Cillian Sheridan for Brad McKay who smashed the ball into the net from around five yards.
The hosts doubled their lead just a couple of minutes later when Sheridan was on hand to head home a Ewan Loudon cross.
City were in rampant form and they added a third to wrap up the points three minutes later when Loudon made ground on the right and crossed into the box for Sheridan who blasted the ball into the roof.
City dominated proceedings after the break and although they were unable to add to their tally they ran out comfortable winners.
Brechin boss Ray McKinnon said: “I thought it was a comfortable victory in very difficult conditions as the park was really fiery and hard.
“We had a really strong first half and probably could have scored four or five goals.
“In the second half Nairn made things more difficult and didn’t really come out of their shape much.
“We got into some really good areas in the first 15 minutes when Ewan Loudon was through on a couple of occasions but it’s difficult playing against a back five when everyone is behind the ball.
“We had a lot of possession we really didn’t utilise it to good effect.
“We’ve one more game to go in the league campaign and we’ll approach next week’s game against Lossiemouth the same as we approached today’s game.
“We’ve one aim which is to win that match and the boys will certainly be fired up to finish the season on a winning note.”
Nairn boss Brian Macleod said: “I was really pleased with the first 30 minutes when I thought we played with a really good shape, managed to frustrate Brechin and had a couple of decent opportunities.
“But we had a crazy six-seven minute spell when we lost three goals, goals which were really disappointing from our point of view.
“It’s then a huge ask when you’re 3-0 down at half-time. In the second half the boys worked really hard but we never managed to threaten at all.”
Forres Mechanics 4-1 Keith
Forres Mechanics enjoyed a commanding win against a depleted Keith side that had 10 players missing from their squad.
A double from Matt Jamieson and singles from Calum Frame and Jordan Alonge was more than enough to see off the Maroons whose sole crumb of comfort came from Brody Alberts.
Can Cans manager Steven Macdonald said: “I was very pleased with the result.
“It’s always difficult after Wednesday games and that was the challenge as the boys put a lot into the midweek match, so it was great to get the win.
“We were in a good position with the three first half goals, but I was annoyed at the goal we lost.
“I’m pleased for the boys as we were trying to improve our home form and we badly wanted six points from this week’s two games, which we got.”
The hosts were in the driving seat with two goals in the space of six first half minutes, opening the scoring in the 13th minute when the totally unmarked Jamieson rifled home from 15 yards before Frame headed home an Aidan Cruickshank cross for his 15th goal of the season.
Frame also hit the crossbar with a fine effort before Keith gifted their hosts another goal with 34 minutes played, a short passback from Mikey Ironside allowing Jamieson to nip in and slot home from 10 yards.
Four minutes from half-time the Maroons grabbed a consolation when Forres goalie Cammy Farquhar rushed out of his charge, getting in a mix-up with his defence, allowing Alberts to run in and sweep the ball into the empty net.
Nathan McKeown then squandered a golden chance for Keith seven minutes after half-time. Three minutes later, following a fine save from Connor Macleod, Alonge scrambled the loose ball over the line for his 14th goal of the season, to wrap up the win.
Keith manager Craig Ewen said: “We were well beaten. Forres were excellent in the first half and we really couldn’t compete with them in most aspects of the game.
“I think 3-1 at half-time flattered us to be honest.
“The second half turned into an end of season type of game. We’re very stretched player-wise at the moment and the schedule is probably beginning to have an impact.”
Rothes 2-3 Deveronvale
A late disputed penalty kick ensured Rothes will pick up the wooden spoon even before next Saturday’s final game of the season at Brora Rangers.
The Speysiders had battled back from going 1-0 down before the interval to lead 2-1 but Ben Hermiston’s headed equaliser and Harry Noble’s controversial spot-kick gave Vale their third win in a row.
Deveronvale assistant-manager Grant Noble said: “At the penalty there was a touch on Jack Mitchell but he didn’t go down and he got his shot away, it’s one of those where if it was given against your side you wouldn’t be very happy.
“We were the better team in the first half but they had the better of the second half when they got their tails up with those two goals and they battled for each other.
“Luckily we managed to hit back and come away with the three points even though we were disappointed in how we performed in that second half.”
Rothes keeper Sean McCarthy made a brilliant save in the second minute to stop an Aleksander Długosz volley.
After 12 minutes McCarthy was in action again, brilliantly tipping a ferocious Adam Reid drive over the crossbar.
Vale took the lead in the 28th minute when Reid pounced on a loose ball to steer it past McCarthy from eight yards.
Seven minutes after the restart Rothes equalised when Tom Brady got on the end of a deep free kick to head powerfully past McIntosh from six yards.
Rothes took the lead on the hour mark, Owen Alexander firing home from six yards after indecision in the Vale defence.
Shortly after Rothes had the ball in the net again but the effort from Shaun Morrison was ruled out for a push.
Deveronvale levelled in the 72nd minute with substitute Ben Hermiston heading home at the back post.
With three minutes left referee Alex Ross awarded Vale a penalty kick for a foul on Jack Mitchell. Harry Noble stepped up and hammered the ball home from the spot.
Rothes boss Ronnie Sharp said: “It wasn’t a penalty but that’s just the way things are going for us at the moment.
“I just didn’t understand that decision, nor the one at the other end when Shaun Morrison scored for us and a free-kick was given against him for pushing when there weren’t any hands anywhere near the Vale defender.”
Lossiemouth 1-2 Banks o’ Dee
Banks o’ Dee continued their quest to finish third in this season’s Breedon Highland League as they had to work hard to overcome a determined Lossiemouth outfit on a fiery surface.
The home side, who were missing eight players, defended brilliantly until Dee opened the scoring five minutes from the break with a superb strike from Lachie MacLeod which flew into the top corner.
Lossie got back on level terms after 58 minutes when a long clearance from Stuart Knight found Liam Harvey who beat Jevan Anderson to the ball and fired beyond Daniel Hoban.
Within three minutes Dee scored what proved to be the winner when the home defence failed to clear after a scramble in the box which allowed Mark Gilmour to head home from almost on the line.
Dee co-manager Josh Winton said: “We took our goals well, especially the first which was a really good strike from Lachie.
“Getting the second goal so soon after they scored was vital.
“The only disappointment was we could have been a bit more ruthless in the second half, which would have taken the pressure off, while we will also look back on what could have been a couple of penalties being given.
“With Inverurie also winning it gives us something to play for on the final day of the season as we look to finish in the top three.”
Lossie manager Steve Porter said: “It was a really competitive game against a very good team but we limited them to few clear-cut chances.
“We scored a really good goal from Liam who could have had another with a free kick which struck the post.
“The boys threw their bodies in front of shots and showed the desire I am looking for from them.
“We need to do this not only in the latter stages of the season but the whole time.”
Turriff United 1-2 Inverurie Locos
Inverurie Locos once again had defender turned temporary striker Mark Souter to thank after coming from behind to defeat Turriff United
Former Turriff boss Dean Donaldson has led his Locos side to a guaranteed fourth place finish with third position still a possibility.
He said: “The character of the players shone through again.
“A lesser team may have felt it wasn’t to be their day but not us.
“As we’ve done a few times in the past we’ve pushed ‘Soapy’ Souter up front and it came up trumps again.
“We went in one down at half time when we should have been five or six up.
“Credit to us we dug in but so did Turriff.
“You find many ways to win a football match, we changed the formation four times.
“We don’t fear any opponent. Sometimes you just have to grind it out.”
Turriff had a standout man of the match in teenage goalkeeper Cameron Reid who several times in the first half stood up in one-on-one encounters with Josh Bolton.
The hosts, who saw a Murray Cormack header come back off the crossbar, scored against the run of play in 41 minutes, a swerving effort from Mackenzie Taylor taking a strong deflection off Milosz Ochmanski and flying past Zack Ellis.
Souter netted with almost identical efforts in the 84th and 87th minutes.
His first was a well guided lob over Reid which went in off the crossbar.
Callum Duncan set up the second for another clever lob for the winner.
Turriff assistant manager Allan Youngson said: “We put in a lot of effort but in all truth we were second best team on the day.
“Cammy Reid had a brilliant day and has shown a maturity beyond his years. He was absolutely outstanding.
“But you could see how the game was going to pan out in the end.
“To be fair to Locos they kept up the pressure. Maybe you could say the timing of the goals were unlucky but we can’t have too many complaints.”
Strathspey Thistle 2-3 Wick Academy
Wick Academy made it seven matches unbeaten in the Breedon Highland League with a 3-2 victory against Strathspey Thistle at Seafield Park.
In an encounter where both sides had plenty of chances the Scorries started brightly and broke the deadlock in the 11th minute.
Mark Macadie’s pass released Kyle Henderson, who finished tidily for his 18th goal of the season. Within 10 minutes the Grantown Jags equalised when Daniel Whitehorn returned a Filip Franczak free-kick into the danger area and James McShane pounced.
Shortly before half-time Wick regained the lead when Macadie’s effort from 18 yards found the net, despite goalkeeper Ethan Rae getting a touch on the shot.
Just after the break David Allan teed up Euan Kennedy on the right and his finish made it 1-3, but Strathspey set-up a grandstand finish when Whitehorn capitalised on hesitation from goalkeeper Lewis Gallacher to score on 83 minutes.
After that Thistle thought they had equalised following a penalty box scramble, but after the ball was in the net the ‘goal’ was disallowed for a foul on Gallacher.
‘Exceptional’ Scorries form
Wick boss Gary Manson said: “We’ve played better and come away with nothing in other games, so in that respect it was pleasing to win, but if it had finished 5-6 it wouldn’t have been an unfair reflection.
“I felt we shaded the chances, but both teams created a lot of chances and could have scored more goals.
“We’re really pleased with our form, the last couple of months have been exceptional. The performance levels have been really good and I’ve been really pleased with the amount of goals we’ve scored.”
Strathspey Thistle manager Ryan Esson said: “I was disappointed with the goal we had disallowed. What baffled me about it was that the linesman, who is further away than the referee, gave the decision and not the referee.
“We started really poorly and Wick could have been out of sight early on, but after that the way it panned out we should have had a draw.”
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