Moray welfare round-up: Cullen, Fochabers and Hopeman all win, Aberlour and RAF Lossiemouth share spoils
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A SINGLE goal settled FC Fochabers' match with Lossie Youths in Friday's Moray welfare football programme.
Defences were mainly on top across the area, with just a dozen goals across the four matches played.
Both goalkeepers ruled the roost in the first half at Fochabers, with home keeper Kieran Burchell keeping Lossie at bay while the coast side's veteran number one Darren McConnachie coming out of retirement to pull off some saves.
McConnachie was beaten once in the second half when Warren Orford went past a couple of defenders and smashed home what proved to be the only goal of the game.
Lossie Youths applied some relentless pressure in the final quarter of the game but couldn't find a way through.
More Moray welfare:
Basement side Tomintoul hosted Cullen and were punished for every mistake they made in the first half hour.
The visitors took advantage to net three times with Kieran Ferguson, an own goal and Macauly Flaws all on target.
'Toul came out fighting after the interval and were rewarded when a Cullen defender turned a cross into his own net.
The home side saw plenty of the ball but their moves broke down in the final third, and it was Cullen who scored the final goal of the game through Jordan Cowie.
Like Tomintoul, Elgin Golden Oldies are still searching for their first point but they made champions Hopeman dig deep for their 2-0 victory on Friday.
The EGOs fielded a depleted line-up through injuries and work commitments but competed well, stemming the tide after Marc Connolly gave Hopeman an 11th minute lead.
Another injury for the home team saw Jack Hay go off with a twisted knee, but his team-mates battled hard in the second half.
The scoreline stayed the same until ten minutes from time when Simon Inglis fired into the roof of the net to seal Hopeman's win.
Leading Moray welfare goal scorers:
-7 Warren Orford (FC Fochabers)
-6 Paul Mellon (Buckie United)
-5 Kieran Ferguson (Cullen)
-4 David Blackhall (Aberlour Villa)
-4 Sean Petrie (FC Fochabers)
-4 Branford Edgar (Lossie Youths)
-3 William Morrison (Buckie United)
-3 Scott Mair (Cullen)
-3 Ryan Fiske (Hopeman)
-3 Harry Allen (Lossie Youths)
-3 Ross Murray (Portsoy)
-3 Mick Smith (Portsoy)
-3 Cammy Newton (RAF Lossiemouth)
-3 Logan Buick (RAF Lossiemouth)
There was another tight match at Aberlour Villa where unbeaten RAF Lossie were the visitors.
Villa held the upper hand in the first half and went in front when Jack Craib netted a free kick from an acute angle, over the keeper's head after half an hour.
The airmen were grounded by a second home goal before the break, a superb Ross Low shot from the edge of the box which flew into the top corner.
Lossie made changes to their team and their fortunes were soon on an upward curve, with Kyle Turner netting from the edge of the box to make it 2-1.
An equaliser wasn't far away, Logan Buick scoring his third goal of the season.
Play was end-to-end after that with Gavin Cameron's brilliant effort off the bar for Aberlour being the closest either side came to scoring a winner, though the draw was a fair result.
Leaders Buckie United, who have won their first four fixtures, are back in action tonight (Tuesday) away to Cullen.
