Forres Mechanics 0 Rothes 7: Speysiders thrash Cans on manager Gordon Connelly's debut
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ROTHES romped their way into the title race last night – hammering Forres Mechanics 7-0 to ruin Gordon Connelly's return to Mosset Park.
Former Speysiders coach Connelly was celebrating his first game as Mechanics manager, but his ex club made it a night for him to forget with an emphatic victory.
Rothes moved up to second place in the Highland League with the win – above Brechin City on goal difference – and to within three points of leaders Fraserburgh.
Despite that, manager Ross Jack remained coy on his side's title aspirations.
"We won't be speaking about the title in house," he said.
"We'll be getting on with our own job, staying in the race for as long as we can and putting the pressure on if we can.
"I couldn't have asked for more against Forres. We took the game to them, the work rate was first class and obviously the goals I'm delighted with.
"Overall, it was a great night's work."
The game started evenly, before Rothes took the lead out of the blue on 24 minutes as former Forres midfielder Alan Pollock got in down the right and drilled the ball across for Jack Brown to tap in at the near post.
The next chance brought about the next goal for the away side on 40 minutes, with Jack Brown doing well to evade two tackles in the middle of the park before playing in Gary Kerr to slot home calmly, again at the near post.
Rothes had the ball in the net for a third time before the break as Fraser Robertson's shot deflected in off Gary Kerr – but the big striker was adjudged to have been in an offside position.
The floodgates well and truly opened on 66 minutes. Pollock was again the provider, playing a neat ball in behind the defence for Lewis Hyde to clip over stand-in Forres keeper Ruardhri Nicol.
The fourth followed five minutes later as the outstanding Jack Brown fired in from 16 yards, with a fifth added by substitute Aidan Wilson, who raced through on goal and slotted home.
Another substitute Greg Morrison, returning from a long-term injury, almost scored the pick of the bunch as he raced through the entire Forres midfield and defence on 85 minutes but prodded just wide.
The sixth came from a corner with two minutes to play through a bullet header from Michael Finnis, with Alan Pollock's deflected shot in the last minute sealing a 7-0 win for the Speysiders.
New Cans boss Gordon Connelly was less than pleased with the showing his players put in.
He said: "Rothes were pretty dominant throughout. You can see they are well drilled and you can see why they are so high up the table.
"We knew we had a tough job on our hands with the squad – it's limited and there's a rebuild needed – but we're not hiding from that fact.
"The players need to reflect on what they've been doing for the past four or five months.
"Fitness levels looked short, sharpness looked short, and you can see they're lacking confidence.
"We've got a lot of work to do. We need to change their mentality."
While Rothes are set to host Formartine United on Saturday, looking to make it nine points from nine this week, Forres will welcome top of the table Fraserburgh.
