Colin Williamson has praised Brora Rangers’ new-look squad for handling the pressure as they aim to clinch the Breedon Highland League title.
For the fourth season in a row the battle for the championship has come down to the last game, with the Cattachs in pole position.
They are level on points with Brechin City, but are 29 ahead on goal difference, and know if they beat Rothes at Dudgeon Park on Saturday they will be Highland League champions for the fifth time.
Defender Williamson joined Brora in January 2014. The 34-year-old has been part of their four previous title triumphs in 2014, 2015 and the Covid-19 disrupted 2019-20 and 2020-21 campaigns.
New group has done the business
However, the majority of the Cattachs’ squad, which was overhauled by boss Steven Mackay last summer as a host of club legends departed, haven’t experienced winning the league before.
When Brora were beaten by Brechin at Dudgeon Park on March 15 the Hedgemen had the advantage, but since then Brora have won five out of five to regain the upper hand.
Williamson reckons the Cattachs have done well to get themselves into this position as they look to finish the job.
He said: “Sometimes having a freshness to the squad helps, the boys who have come in are all good players.
“A lot of the squad haven’t been in this situation before, but the way we’ve dealt with things since losing to Brechin has been very good and has got us into this position.
“I think because of the pressure on ourselves and Brechin that’s probably led to both teams dropping points.
“Brechin lost at Inverurie (1-0 on March 19) and they had the pressure of knowing they needed to get something. We had the same prior to that where we went top of the league and then dropped points.
“But thankfully we’re back on top now.
“This is a big day for the club. If we’d been told at the start of the season we’d have a game at home on the last day that we needed to win to win the league then we would have taken that.”
Treble chance
Since last being Highland League champions in 2021 Brora haven’t quite managed to sustain a title challenge in recent campaigns.
Williamson is pleased that has changed this term as the Cattachs chase a possible treble. They lifted the North of Scotland Cup in October and take on Fraserburgh next Saturday in the R Davidson (Banchory) Highland League Cup final.
Williamson added: “We play to win things and every year I’ve been at Brora the aim has been to win the league.
“We’ve always wanted to challenge and we’ve always had quality players here, but some seasons it just hasn’t happened for one reason or another.
“The aim at the start of the season for Brora is to win as much as possible and we’ve got a chance to win three trophies.
“But it’s a case of one game at a time just now and we’ll focus on Rothes and then move on to the cup final next week.
“The club has never won three trophies in a season so it would be a great achievement – but we still have to make it happen.”
Sharp seeks positive Speysiders display
Bottom club Rothes haven’t won since November 2. Although much of the focus is on the outcome of the title race, manager Ronnie Sharp is looking for a good performance from the Speysiders as they try to cause a shock.
He said: “I’d expect Brora to come at us all guns blazing looking to put on a show to win the league.
“It will be a very tough game for us, but our focus is on trying to get the best Rothes performance possible.
“We need to stay in the game and see what happens. The boys should enjoy playing in a game like this and should want to show what they’re about.
“Although we haven’t won a game for a while, we’ve been competitive in a lot of games so hopefully we can get a good performance out of the boys.”
Brechin midfielder hoping for final day drama
Brechin City’s Fraser MacLeod is praying there will be one last twist in the Breedon Highland League title race.
The championship battle has ebbed and flowed over the course of the campaign, but heading into the final round of fixtures on Saturday it’s Brora Rangers who hold the advantage.
Second-placed Brechin, who face 16th-placed Lossiemouth at Glebe Park this afternoon, are level on points with the Cattachs, but trail by 29 on goal difference.
For the Hedgemen to be champions they need to better Brora’s result, which means they need their rivals to drop points against bottom side Rothes.
Although the odds are against Brechin, midfielder MacLeod said: “We need to make sure we win our game, I’d expect Lossiemouth to be hard to beat.
“If we win then you never know what could happen in the Brora-Rothes game.
“Although we won both games (2-1 and 3-2) we struggled when we played Rothes this season and that gives us hope, because we know they can make it difficult for teams.
“Even though they haven’t had the best of seasons I’m sure their players will want to spoil the party, just like the Lossie players will want to end our chances.
“Hopefully Rothes can produce a shock and we can do the business as well.
“I think both Brora and ourselves have dropped points in games people wouldn’t have expected this season so you never know what could happen.
“The main thing for us is making sure we win our game and we’ll see what happens in the other game.
“There have been plenty of surprise results this season, you never know maybe there can be another one.”
Coasters seeking big finish
Meanwhile, Liam Archibald is determined to try to finish Lossiemouth’s season on a high.
The midfielder, who may deputise at centre-back in the absence of James Leslie and Lewis McAndrew, admits it hasn’t been a vintage campaign for the Coasters but he wants to make life difficult for Brechin.
Archibald added: “We know Brechin are fighting for a league title and we’re down towards the bottom. But we’ll look to do the right things to keep ourselves in the game.
“It hasn’t been a great season for us, but we would like to finish it on a positive note.
“If we could get a result it would give everyone the confidence and belief for next season that we can push on.
“We’ve got our pride to play for and we want to do our best for the club so we need to be up for it.”
Trophy to be stationed at Brora
The Breedon Highland League trophy will be at Dudgeon Park on the final of day of the season.
Although Brora Rangers and Brechin City are both still in contention to win the title, with the Cattachs in pole position to clinch the championship, league secretary John Campbell has opted to take the silverware to Sutherland on Saturday.
Dudgeon Park and Glebe Park are 194 miles apart and the distance was deemed to be too great for Campbell to base himself between the grounds and travel to present the trophy following the conclusion of both matches.
If Brora win their fixture against Rothes they will be champions. However, if they slip up and Brechin prevail, they will be presented with the trophy at Glebe Park on the day of the home leg of the pyramid play-off semi-final against East Kilbride.
No post-match dash this year
Last year when Buckie Thistle, who were at home, Brechin City, who played Brora at Golspie, and Fraserburgh, who played at Bellslea, were all in contention, Campbell based himself in Inverness before driving to Buckie to conduct the presentation after the results of all three games were known.
Explaining the situation Campbell said: “The distance is too much for us to be between the two grounds so we are going to Brora with the trophy.
“In the event that it flips around and Brechin prevail we have a contingency plan in place.
“I live in Rothes so I’m roughly two hours from Brora and two hours from Brechin so I could sit in the house until quarter to five or five o’clock until we know who has won.
“However, then we wouldn’t be at the ground until 7pm at the earliest. That’s too late really because people would have to hang about for a couple of hours waiting on the presentation.
“Last year we chanced our luck a bit being stationed in Inverness and the presentation at Buckie ended up being about 6.30pm.
“We had a meeting about it and this is the decision we’ve made. Unfortunately the Highland League doesn’t possess a helicopter or the resources to hire one for this occasion!”
News from around the Highland League with Malin set to bow out
Clachnacuddin boss Conor Gethins has hailed Joe Malin as the best goalkeeper he’s seen in the Breedon Highland League as he gets set to retire.
The 36-year-old will hang up his gloves following the Lilywhites’ game against Formartine United at Grant Street Park on Saturday.
Malin started his senior career with Ross County and also had loans at Elgin City before joining Brora Rangers, where he enjoyed a trophy-laden 11-year stint, in 2013.
Last summer Malin signed for Clach and has helped them rise from 17th last term to their current position of sixth.
Malin has kept 181 clean sheets in his career and if he features against Formartine it will be his 400th career appearance.
Gethins has been in the Highland League as a player and manager since 2011 and said: “In my time Joe has been the best goalkeeper in the Highland League.
“He’s been exceptional. When I played Joe was always the one goalkeeper that made me think before a game ‘how am I going to get by him today?’
“He spent many years playing in a great Brora team and it’s been an absolute privilege having Joe at Clach this season. He’s been a massive part of what we’ve done this season.”
Clach are without Jack Mackay, Scott Davidson, Jack Davison and Rorie Macleod, while Rhys Thomas and Ewen Macdonald are sidelined for Formartine.
Jags trio set for last match
Buckie Thistle are at full strength for Keith’s visit to Victoria Park. The encounter will see Andrew MacAskill, Joe McCabe and Sam Pugh make their final appearances for the Jags.
The Maroons are missing Callum Robertson, Ryan Robertson, Craig Gill, James Brownie, Murray Addison, Jake Stewart, Liam Duncan, Craig Reid, Connor Killoh, Jordan Cooper and Joey Wilson, but Ryan Spink returns.
Banks o’ Dee face Forres Mechanics at Mosset Park as they look for a win to secure third spot. Dee are without Mark Reynolds and Iain Vigurs, while the Can-Cans have no absentees.
Fourth-placed Inverurie Locos are minus Greg Mitchell and Sam Burnett for Wick Academy’s visit to Harlaw Park. It’s Calum Dingwall’s last game for the Railwaymen and Richard Macadie’s final outings for the Scorries, who are missing Alan Hughes, Owen Harrold, Owen Rendall, Marc Coghill, Kyle Henderson and Gordon MacNab.
Fraserburgh welcome back Ross Aitken and Kieran Simpson for their Bellslea clash with Huntly. Angus Grant, Ryan Sewell, Kai Watson, Ruari Fraser and Calum Brodie are out for the Black and Golds.
Kenny McKenzie and Brodie Watson are doubts for Nairn County’s Station Park encounter with Deveronvale, whose player-manager Garry Wood is suspended.
Strathspey Thistle are set to without Josh Race, Sam Morrison and Ali Nixon when they tackle Turriff United at Seafield Park. Callan Gray, Andrew Watt, Lee Herbert, Ewen Robertson and Ewan Clark are unavailable for the visitors.
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