Saturday April 13th
Scorries are made to pay for missed chances
Academy's Highland
League title challenge looks to be all but over after they succumbed to a 2-0
defeat at Inverurie in a match that had been billed as a must-win encounter by
the Scorries' manager, Barry Wilson.
It has been a
memorable campaign for Academy – and it's not over yet. They have already
surpassed their previous best-ever HFL points total and have banged in more
than 100 goals in all competitions.
However, while the
home form continues to be formidable, ultimately the club's championship quest
has been undermined by too many dropped points in away games.
Saturday's clash at
Harlaw Park ended up as another case of what might have been as Academy were
made to pay for failing to convert a succession of chances.
There was a
disastrous start for the visitors as Inverurie scored with less than a minute
gone. Neil Gauld received the ball
just inside the penalty area and lobbed it over James More and into the net.
Chance after chance came and went for Academy before Locos
wrapped up the points on 78 minutes. Marc Young crossed from the right, Scott
Begg challenged More for the ball and it fell to John Maitland who prodded it in.
Cove Rangers and Formartine United now have a firm
grip on the top two places, with Cove holding a six-point advantage although
the Pitmedden outfit have five games in hand.
There were contrasting wins for those two on Saturday as
Cove dug out a scrappy 1-0 away victory over 10-man Clachnacuddin while
Formartine, as expected, won comfortably at home to bottom club Fort William.
At Grant Street Park, Clach's Colin Williamson was red-carded for handball after 34 minutes and Ryan
Stott tucked away the resultant spot-kick.
That proved to be
the only goal of the game as Clach's title hopes suffered a serious setback.
They are now third, a point ahead of Academy having played one game fewer.
Kevin Webster
netted two penalties in Formartine's 4-1 win against Fort. Mike Ewen and
Calum Bagshaw got the others for Steve Paterson's side, with Scott Lynch
pulling one back for the visitors.
Nairn County are
another team who appear to be drifting out of the title race after having to
settle for a 1-1 draw with Fraserburgh at Station Park. Paul MacLeod's own goal
gave the Broch a first-half lead before Michael Morrison salvaged a point for
County.
Buckie Thistle won
2-1 at Kynoch Park to gain some revenge for their shoot-out defeat to Keith in
the Highland League Cup a week earlier.
Murray McCulloch's
opener for the Maroons was cancelled out by Lewis MacKinnon before the break.
Nikki Smith put the Jags in front and they managed to hold on after the
dismissal of substitute Jay Cheyne.
Deveronvale eased
to a 5-0 victory over Rothes at Princess Royal Park. There were doubles for
Craig Cowie and Graeme Watt, with Colin Charlesworth getting the other.
Lossiemouth remain
second bottom after being beaten 3-1 by Strathspey Thistle at Seafield
Park.
Gavin Chisholm and
Jamie Sutherland scored early in each half for the Grantown Jags before
Lossie's Kevin Grant reduced the deficit. Alan Mackenzie made sure of the
points in the closing stages.
It was
Strathspey's fifth league win of the campaign – the most they have achieved in
a single season since joining the HFL in 2009.
Brora Rangers were
4-0 winners over Turriff United at Dudgeon Park with goals from Andrew Greig,
Martin MacLean, Richie Hart and Dale Gillespie, while Scott Lawrie's early
strike was enough to give Forres Mechanics a 1-0 success at Huntly.
