Highland League round-up
Saturday December 3rd
Second-half revival keeps Buckie in the title chase
Buckie Thistle staged a second-half revival to earn a 3-2
victory over Clachnacuddin, a result that keeps the defending champions on the
fringes of the title race ahead of their home game against Academy this
weekend.
Clach held a 1-0 lead at half-time at Victoria Park
courtesy of a 26th-minute strike from Chris Ross. He netted the rebound after a
Sam Urquhart effort had been blocked by ex-Academy keeper Darren Strong.
The Jags were clearly stung by manager Gregg Carrol's
half-time pep talk as they struck three times in the opening 11 minutes of the
second period.
Zander Sutherland fired in the equaliser in the 47th
minute and Martin Charlesworth put Buckie ahead with 55 minutes on the clock.
That was the striker's first goal of the season and his second came just a
minute later to give the Jags a 3-1 lead.
Clach's Brian Macleod reduced the deficit in the 66th
minute but Buckie held on for all three points.
With Forres Mechanics' fixture at Fort William being
postponed because of a waterlogged pitch, Nairn County and Cove Rangers took
the opportunity to cut the Can-Cans' lead to five points.
Conor Gethins helped himself to a second-half hat-trick
in Nairn's 6-2 victory over Rothes at Station Park.
Steven Mackay opened the scoring for County with an
11th-minute penalty but Rothes responded with two goals in as many minutes.
Michael McKinnon netted a spot-kick on 17 minutes and a defensive lapse allowed
Iain MacRae to put the Speysiders 2-1 up.
Dale Gillespie equalised three minutes from the interval
before Gethins killed off the visitors' challenge with a quick-fire treble. He
was on target in 62, 69 and 71 minutes before Robbie Duncanson rounded off the
scoring with six minutes left.
A late surge saw Cove rack up a 5-2 win against Brora
Rangers at Dudgeon Park.
Liam Baxter gave the Cattachs the lead on 28 minutes but
Kevin Webster equalised six minutes from half-time and two minutes later they
were in front courtesy of an Alex Macleod own goal.
Baxter got Brora back on level terms with his second of
the afternoon on 80 minutes, but two minutes later Jordan Leyden restored
Cove's advantage and Danny Milne's double in the closing stages produced a
scoreline that rather flattered the visitors.
David Booth struck twice for Huntly in their 3-2 away win
against Fraserburgh.
Booth's first-minute goal was cancelled out by Ryan
Christie on the half-hour mark. William West put the Broch in front six minutes
into the second half but Booth restored parity on 62 minutes and Russell Guild
grabbed the winner with just over a quarter of an hour to go.
A mid-table encounter at Princess Royal Park saw
Deveronvale and Formartine United fight out a 1-1 draw. Michael McGinlay put
the visitors ahead from the penalty spot a minute from half-time, with Mike
McKenzie's 65th-minute free kick levelling things up.
Keith ran out 3-0 winners against 10-man Turriff United
at The Haughs. Turriff's Donald Fraser was sent off shortly before the break
and the Maroons made their numerical superiority count in the closing half-hour
with goals from Dean Donaldson, Andrew MasAskill and Darren McAllister.
Inverurie Locos eased to a 4-0 victory over Strathspey
Thistle at Harlaw Park with goals from Neil Gauld, Nicky Gordon, Andy Low and
John Maitland.
Academy's scheduled home game against Lossiemouth had to
be called off on Saturday following heavy overnight rain.
