Lossiemouth 3 Rothes 1: Coasters secure Moray derby win thanks to second-half show
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AN IMPRESSIVE second half showing gave Lossiemouth all three points against Moray rivals Rothes at Grant Park on Saturday.
Goals from debutant Dylan Lawrence, Brandon Hutcheson and Ryan Farquhar gave Lossie the victory, while Jake Thomson scored for the visitors.
Pleased Coasters manager Frank McGettrick said: "You never get an easy game against Rothes. They are a good side and a hard team to beat.
"We knew it was going to be a tough game. It was great to see Dylan score, I was chuffed for Brandon and Ryan Farquhar was excellent today.
"It was a bit nervy at 2-1 and Cammy (Farquhar) made two great saves, which were excellent, to keep us in the game. I was really happy with our performance."
There weren't many openings in a first half that was largely played in the middle third – but Hutcheson did go close for the hosts with a low effort on five minutes, before Gary Kerr was denied after a goalmouth scramble for the visitors.
After a lively start to the second period, Rothes opened the scoring on 66 minutes when Dylan Lawrence broke down the left wing and fired in a cross which sliced over the head of Sean McCarthy and into the top corner.
The Coasters doubled their lead with a beautifully-worked goal on 72 minutes. Ross Paterson played a nice ball over the defence for Jared Kennedy and his cross was inch-perfect for Hutcheson to sidefoot home at the back post.
Rothes came to life after going 2-0 behind and got themselves back in the game when a deflected shot was spooned away by Cameron Farquhar from underneath the crossbar and fell directly to Jake Thomson to tap home.
The Speysiders had two or three really good chances to level the scores, with Liam Shewan twice firing just wide when he had the chance to equalise.
While the visitors were trying to push forward, Ryan Farquhar capitalised on a square header from Ben Johnstone, pouncing to run through on goal and finish with a chipped effort over McCarthy for 3-1 and all three points.
Rothes midfielder Fraser Robertson was frustrated by his side's performance, which he said will have to improve ahead of Wednesday's derby with bottom side Strathspey Thistle.
"It was really poor from us," he said. "At half-time I still thought we were going to come out and get the win somehow but we were just miles off it all over the park.
"Fair play to Lossie, they were better than us and deserved the win. We didn't deserve to take anything from the game.
"We didn't seem like we had any style of play. We just seemed to go out, hope for the best and see if anything happened. It was nowhere near good for us.
"We thought we were starting to build something slowly, but after that result it is another step backwards.
"At the moment , the way we are playing, we can't expect to beat anyone. We will have to do our best on Wednesday and make sure we get the win."
While Rothes take on Strathspey Thistle, Lossiemouth travel to Nairn County on Wednesday – with the hosts looking to recover from a 6-0 beating from Inverurie Locos.
