Sharp fires ten man Forres into second spot
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NATHAN Sharp's early strike was enough to give ten man Forres Mechanics a home derby win over Lossiemouth on Friday night.
It was a backs-to-the-wall effort by the Cans against a determined Lossie side, especially after the home team had Kevin Duguid sent off early in the second half.
Mechanics' boss Charlie Rowley hailed the effort of his rearguard in snuffing out everything their opponents threw at them.
"Once we were down to ten men we had to dig in," he admitted. "Defending is a huge part of the game, it's an art and today we defended absolutely brilliantly.
"We' re absolutely delighted with the win and that's three clean sheets in a row for us now."
Forres celebrated going second in the Highland League table, perfect preparation for next Sunday's North of Scotland Cup final against Caley Thistle at Mosset Park.
But Lossiemouth boss Charlie Charlesworth was understandably frustrated that his team failed to convert a nuimber of chances in the match.
Craig Morrison had a goal disallowed for offside and the Coasters had two efforts cleared off the line, while a brilliant save by Forres keeper Stuart Knight denied sub Jamie Bagley.
"I thought we played really well tonight, and our performance levels and energy levels were good," Charlie reflected.
"But it just didn't happen for us in front of goal. It's not going in the back of the net."
Lossie had all the pressure after Forres midfielder Duguid, who was booked for a foul in the first half, was shown a second yellow for an alleged diving offence on 51 minutes.
Keith held off a stern challenge from Rothes to record a 3-1 win in the night's second derby encounter.
Cammy Keith returned to scoring form with a double to take his tally for the season to 9 and shoot his side into third spot in the table.
Dean Donaldson opened the scoring from 12 yards after 22 minutes, but Michael Fletcher equalised in 37 minutes with a terrific 20-yard free-kick which he blazed into the far top corner of the net.
Cammy Keith struck two minutes later with his own wonder goal, a curling drive from the far corner of the box.The hectic pace eased in the second half and Cammy Keith secured the points by heading home an Andy McAskill cross in 72 minutes.Rothes were aggrieved at not being awarded a penalty, but manager Graham MacBeath admitted he had plenty positives to take from the game."Keith are a top four side and we have come here and given them a real game. It's good to see the players disappointed by the result," he said.Keith boss Darren Still said: "We played a lot of creative football and had a number of scoring chances. It's good to see Cammy back on form after two games without a goal."It tees us up nicely for next weekend's Aberdeenshire Cup final against Deveronvale at Huntly."
Both Forres and Keith are hanging on to the coat-tails of leaders Buckie Thistle, who were impressive 4-0 winners at home to Fraserburgh.
The visitors were in second place at kick off time but Buckie went in at the break two goals in front thanks to efforts by Lewis MacKinnon (30 minutes) and Neil Davidson.
Makeshift striker Zander Sutherland clinched the points with a second half double, the first from a penalty given for handball against Fraserburgh defender Bryan Hay, who was sent off.
There was an impressive start to his Huntly career for Barry Somers, after the midfielder netted on his debut for the club in the 2-0 win over Strathspey Thistle.
Signed only in midweek from junior side Sunnybank, former Keith man Somers broke the deadlock on 25 minutes, before another ex-Maroon Michael Fyfe wrapped up the points for Dave McGinlay's team in the second half.
Elsewhere Formartine struck two late goals to pip Inverurie Locos 2-1, Brora thumped Fort William 4-1 and Turriff won at Clach by the same scoreline.
Don't miss next Friday's Northern Scot for more reaction and pictures from the Highland League.
