Highland League round-up
Saturday August 24th
Academy win at Vale to stay top of the pile
Deveronvale 0 – Wick Academy 4
Wick Academy maintained their 100% start to the season with
a fine four nil victory away to Deveronvale. The scorries took the lead five
minutes before halftime when Craig Shearer got on the end of Stevie Cunningham's
free kick before goalkeeper Darran McConnachie could clear the ball. Academy
added a second just before half-time when Alex Lamb was on hand to score from
ten yards with a fine left foot finish from a well worked corner. Sam Mackay
added a third against his former club on the hour mark when he fired home a
Gary Manson cut back. Davie Allan added a fourth when he fired a low left foot
effort past the keeper to round off a great victory for the scorries.
Rothes 0 – Inverurie Locos 5
Inverurie Locos went nap away to Rothes to also continue
their 100% start to the season. Dean Donaldson opened the scoring when he
nodded home a Neil Mclean cross after quarter an hour. The second came just six
minutes later when Derek Ramsay got on the end of a ball from Martin Bavidge to
score an unfortunate own goal. Rothes had chance to pull a goal back but two
quick fire goals midway through the second half from Ross Anderson and Scott
Begg made sure of the points. Donaldson added more misery for Rothes when he
scored late on with a fine finish.
Turriff United 1 – Strathspey Thistle 0
Turriff got the better of Strathspey Thistle on a wet day at
the Haughs. A poor first half saw very few chances the best falling to Matteusz
Bobrowski whose effort was well saved by the home keeper. The winning goal came
from Aaron McKenna who picked up a Garry Harris corner and he curled the ball
into the far postage stamp corner. Bobrowski nearly stole a point for the Strathy
Jags late on but his effort crashed off the crossbar.
Formartine United 4 – Keith 2
Formartine got the better of Keith at New Lodge Park by four
goals to two and they join Academy, Brora and Inverurie with a 4-way tie at the
top of the table. Formartine entire goal haul ironically came from ex Keith
players. Cammy Keith had a great chance to give Formartine the lead on the
first minute but his penalty was saved by Iain Macleod. Cammy Keith eventually
found the back of the net when he nodded home a cross from Daniel Park. The
visitors got an equaliser before half-time when Bruce Milne got on the end of
an Andy Macaskill corner to power home a header. Park put Formartine back in
front when his own cross was fired back out to him and he beat the keeper with
a clever finish. Michael Ewen gave Formartine a two goal cushion when he
rounded the keeper to score. Ewen added a second and Formartine's fourth when
he fired home a controlled volley from Park's assist. Cammy Keith's younger
brother Sean netted a late consolation for Keith but it was too late for them
to get back into the game.
Fraserburgh 1 – Brora Rangers 4
Brora continued their fine start to the season with a
victory away to Fraserburgh. Steven Mackay opened the scoring when he latched
onto a pass and he rounded the keeper to slot home. Mackay added a second when
a David Hind cross came back off Courtney Cooper and Mackay was on hand to net
with a downward header. Andrew Grieg added a third when he cut in from the left
and fired a right foot shot past the keeper. Neil main managed to pull a goal
back for the Broch when he powered home a header from Graham Johnston's free
kick. Grieg added his second and Brora's fourth to complete the scoring and
also to maintain Brora's 100% start to the season.
Huntly 3 – Fort William 2
Huntly and Fort
William shared five goals
but it was Huntly who came out on top. Fort
William took the lead when ex Wick Academy
player Gary Farquhar curled home a free kick from 25 yards. Huntly levelled
right on half-time when Andrzej Kleczkowski capitalised on a mix up in the Fort
defence. Fort William went back in front when Iain
Maclellan fired a shot wide of the advancing keeper and into the net. Daniel Stewart
was to be the hero for Huntly with two long range goals to win the game for the
black and gold's.
Buckie Thistle 2 – Cove Rangers 2
Buckie and Cove shared the points at Victoria Park. Aaron
Conway gave Buckie the lead when he turned onto his left peg from thirty yards and
he fired the ball past the keeper. Buckie could not hold onto their lead for
long as Roy Mcbain got on the end of a Ryan Stott cross to find the net. Buckie
retook the lead in the second half when a Conway pass found Craig Macmillan and
he flicked past the helpless keeper. Cove were not to be denied and got an
equaliser thanks to Jamie Lennox. His twenty yard effort looked to heading
straight to the keeper but the ball struck the head of Lewis MacKinnon and the
ball found the back of the net.
Nairn County 2 – Lossiemouth 1
Nairn were made to fight hard for the three points against
Lossiemouth at Station Park. The Wee County took the lead after eight minutes
when the prolific Connor Gethins chipped the ball over the keeper. It took
Nairn until midway through the second half before they added a second. Daniel
Moore was on hand to net his first league goal for Nairn. Lossiemouth added a
late consolation when William Mathers was on hand to net.
Clachnacuddin 3 – Forres Mechanics 1
Clach got their first win of the season at home to Forres
but had to come from behind to take the points. Forres opened the scoring when
Lee Fraser got on the end of a corner to bullet home a header. Gordon Morrison
levelled for Clach when he flicked the ball past a Forres defender and then his
shot trickled past the keeper into the net. With seventy one minutes on the clock
Clach took the lead for the first time. Kyle Whyte got on the end of a cross
from Andre Skinner and he headed the ball across goal into the net. Paul
Brindle completed the scoring for Clach when he tapped home from yard out from
Whyte's cross.
