It doesn't rain but it pours on Lossiemouth in the Highland League against Formartine but boss Frank McGettrick hopeful of brighter times ahead
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EVEN the most staunch advocates of summer football couldn't have made a watertight case had they been at Grant Park in Lossiemouth this afternoon.
Fans, players and officials were treated to a real cracker of a Scottish 'summer' – glorious sunshine, torrential rain, thunder and lightning.
It looked at one point as if referee Gordon Seago was contemplating pausing proceedings as the sky was lit up a brilliant white on more than one occasion as the players re-entered the pitch after the half-time break.
As it was, the game restarted and the second half was almost entirely played in a downpour, although thankfully the thunder and lightning abated.
And with 10 minutes to go, out came the sunshine again to complete a bizarre 90 minutes.
It doesn't rain but it pours on Lossiemouth just now as they look to get their season kick-started under new manager Frank McGettrick.
However, their performance in a 2-1 defeat to Highland League contenders Formartine Utd has them hoping for brighter days ahead.
They should have taken something from this game, make no mistake about it, and they pushed the Aberdeenshire side all the way.
Lossie can take it as a back-handed compliment that three times in the closing 10 minutes of the game, Julian Wade took the ball towards the corner flag and tried to use up time by keeping the ball from the home defenders. They even had a corner which was played short and they again tried to run down the clock.
To be fair, Lossie hadn't threatened too much in the second half but at 2-1 there was always a chance they could have nicked a goal on the break.
And few in the crowd – apart from the Formartine diehards – would have begrudged the Coasters a share of the spoils, but sometimes you don't get what you deserve in football.
Lossie had got off to the perfect start when Ryan Farquhar dived to head the ball beyond Ewen Macdonald in the 4th minute after a great cross from Ryan Stuart.
Formartine levelled in fortuitous circumstances when the aforementioned Wade blasted a shot against the bar and when the ball was delivered back into the six yard box, Graeme Rodger's headed effort deflected off striker Paul Campbell and into the net. Lossie claimed a handball but their protests were dismissed.
WATCH: Interview with captain Liam Archibald below
Skipper Liam Archibald just failed to direct the ball on target after great work by Ross Paterson as Lossie continued to take the game to Formartine.
Just when it looked as if Lossie would get to the comfort of the dressing room, the visitors delivered a blow to the the collective home stomach, when Matty McLean's torpedo of a long throw was directed back across goal by Roger to leave Campbell with the simplest of headed goals.
The second half was a soggy affair and the only real hint of an equaliser for the home side came when a Paterson snapshot from outside the box flew over the bar.
There were half-hearted shouts for a penalty when Farquhar went down under a challenge by the goalkeeper, but Mr Seago was unimpressed.
So, it is three straight defeats to start the season for Lossie under fledgling manager McGettrick – and they are away to Huntly on Wednesday night before welcoming Brora Rangers to the Costa del Lossie next Saturday.
The storm clouds may have gathered over Grant Park this afternoon, but the mood if far from dark among the Lossiemouth camp.
McGettrick was upbeat in his post-match assessment.
"They did well and I thought over the piece we deserved something out of the game. I am happy with the performance, but at the end of the day it is nae points.
"But it is something positive for us. I said to the boys 'that's the standards we have to look at'. I thought we kept the ball much better today.
"Ryan scored a good goal and then we had a good chance. We lost a goal bang on half-time. We knew the boy McLean has a good long throw but it is still hard to defend.
"There is a lot of encouragement for us and I hope we can bring that to the game on Wednesday.
"We have got to realise there are no easy games for us, no matter who we play. We have to be at it every week.
"They have shown what they can do and that is the standard we need to bring every week."
Elsewhere this afternoon, there were good wins for Brechin City and Buckie Thistle against title rivals.
Brechin were 2-1 home winners against Brora, while the Buckie Jags emerged from Bellslea with a 3-1 win against Fraserburgh.
There were 2-2 draws at Clach and Rothes, where visitors Deveronvale and Banks O' Dee respectively left with a point.
Keith went one better at Turriff, beating the hosts 2-1 for a morale-boosting first win of the season for the Maroons.
Buckie Thistle top the embryonic league table with three wins from three games, and Forres Mechanics are the only other side with a 100% record but they have only played two games and were not in action today.
