Lossiemouth prepare for GPH Builders Merchants Highland League Cup quarter-final against Brechin City by pushing Buckie Thistle all the way in the Highland League
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Lossiemouth competed well against one of the Highland League title chasers on Saturday, and this weekend they will have to do the same again.
The Coasters took Buckie Thistle to the wire for the second time this season, losing 2-1 at Victoria Park with a performance that pleased manager Joe Russell.
Preparations are already under way for the visit of Brechin City to Grant Park in the quarter-finals of the GPH Builders Merchants Highland League Cup this week.
Having lost by a single goal to Jags, as they did in the Scottish Cup earlier this term. Russell is looking for a similar level of performance against a Brechin side still undefeated in the league in 2022-23.
Lossie were handed a League Cup reprieve when their 3-0 first round defeat at home to Nairn County was wiped from the records when Nairn were discovered to have fielded an ineligible player, and were kicked out of the competition.
"Maybe fate dealt us a good hand allowing us back in the cup but it’s going to be very tough against Brechin, that’s for sure," he said.
"We played well in the second half against them down there in the league (a 3-0 defeat in August) so we will see how it goes.
"If we can take last Saturday’s performance into this cup game and build on it, we can maybe give them a good game and see where it takes us. It’s a cup-tie so let’s see what happens.
"Of course it will be a tough one but we will give it everything we can, the boys do that every week whether they have a good or bad performance, they always give everything so that is all we can ask for.
"I’m hoping we turned a wee corner on Saturday in terms of our performance and although we have some hard games coming up, we will be looking to put in some good performances."
Buckie had some first half scares, particularly when Ryan Stuart had a goal disallowed for offside.
It took a brilliant Josh Peters goal to put Jags ahead early in the second half but Stuart came up with an equaliser to put the contest in the balance going into the final quarter.
There was some relief for the home side when Scott Adams forced home what proved to be the winner on 71 minutes.
"In the first half we had some great chances and couldn't capitalise on them and you always fear that will come back and bite you on the bum, and that’s what happened," Russell said.
"Josh Peters’ goal was a screamer although we let the ball bounce when we should have attacked it. It’s a glimpse of the quality they have.
"We played some excellent football, knocked the ball about pretty well with some one-touch stuff down the lines, both sides.
"Stuartie and Ross Elliot gave them a torrid time with a wee bit of help from Liam (Archibald) and Ryan Farquhar who we moved a bit further forward.
"Niall (Kennedy) swept away and Fraser (Forbes) put in a power of work, trying to press the two centre halves.
"So the front six did really well, and the back four coped with a lot of pressure we were under in spells.
"We managed to get ourselves in front of quite a lot of stuff, put bodies in the way or do enough to put them off which we hadn’t been doing in the last couple of weeks.
"It was a much-improved performance but we can’t just do it against the so-called bigger teams like Buckie, we’ve got to do it against the teams round about us in the league."
