Forres floored by Irvine cup comeback
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FORRES Mechanics threw away a 3-1 lead and crashed out of the Scottish Cup to Ayrshire juniors Irvine Meadow.
Meadow surged to a 6-3 victory in Saturday's replay, netting four times after the break to floor Charlie Rowley's Highland League side.
Irvine struck early on through skipper Chris Robertson, but a Forres purple patch saw Simon Allan and Lee Fraser score two in as many minutes, followed by an Allan spot kick on 26 minutes to make it 3-1.
Garry Fleming pulled one back before the break, and two home goals just after half time by Richie Barr and Robertson put Irvine into the lead once more.
Martin McLennan and Michael Hughes added two more to make it a miserable afternoon for the Can Cans.
In the Highland League, Buckie Thistle crashed to a 2-0 defeat at Inverurie and have now been knocked off the top of the table by Nairn County.
With record £16,000 signing Mark Chisholm making his debut, Jags lost out to a first half Nicky Gordon penalty and a Clark Bain effort after the break.
Nairn's 6-0 win over Brora put them in pole position, while there was more late heartache for Lossiemouth as they saw victory turned into defeat in the closing minutes at home to Clach.
The Coasters were beaten by a last gasp goal on the previous Saturday in the Scottish Cup, and history repeated itself at Grant Park when their Inverness opponents plundered all three points in stoppage time.
Twins Ross and Liam Archibald has twice given Charlie Charlesworth's home side the lead, with Liam's strike making it 2-1 with just seven minutes to go.
But Clach not only levelled in time added on but they grabbed a winner in the 96th minute, with Lossie down to ten men after Steven Sim was sent off.
Rothes lost at home for the second weekend running, Sean McIntosh's first half goal turning out to be a mere consolation as they were beaten 4-1 by Steve Paterson's Formartine United.
Huntly were celebrating after a last minute David Booth winner against Wick put them into fifth place in the league.
Mike Fyfe had put the Tigers one-up before Wick levelled, and Booth netted the decisive goal after their Caithness opponents had been reduced to ten men.
Elsewhere Cove won 2-0 at Strathspey and Turriff United turned over Deveronvale 3-1. Fort William joined Forres on the way out of the William Hill Scottish Cup, losing 4-0 to Bo'ness.
For all the latest Highland League news, see Friday's Northern Scot.
