Cans feel the pressure from Clach

Forres Mechanics 1 Clachnacuddin 3

It was an angry Charlie Rowley that addressed his players in the aftermath of the 3-1 loss to Clach last midweek and he didn’t pull any punches in his post match interview where he struggled to find any real positives from the game.

Rowley said, “Clach thoroughly deserved their victory and had us under pressure for the vast majority of the game. Defensively our performance in the early stages of the game set the tone for our whole performance. A team like Clach doesn’t need any encouragement and that is twice this year they have beaten us so credit to them.

“All three goals could have been defended a lot better and this year we cannot get out of the habit of conceding goals, the more me talk about it the worse we seem to get. It is not often I criticise players but I wish we had a bigger squad to choose from on Saturday and it is fortunate for the players that we don’t have the options and we will have to go with them, but I do have faith and trust in them on the whole and hope that this was just a wee blip.”

The Can Cans named an unchanged line up following the recent mauling of Rothes but the :ilywhites were also in a confident mood due to their high league position as they were in 4th place on thirty seven points, three places above their opponents.

Clachnacuddin were extremely quick out of the blocks, scoring the game’s first goal after twoz minutes. Midfielder Alan Pollock took possession of the ball in central position thirty yards out and lofted it over towards the top left hand corner of the box towards winger Sean Ellis. Forres’ Simon Allan got his head to the ball but failed to divert it out for a corner and therefore the ball still reached Ellis. He controlled the dropping ball and then fired a powerful low cross across the box, which Forres defender Graeme Grant could only hook into the bottom right hand corner of his own net past the helpless Stuart Knight from two yards.

Despite the setback the Can-Cans only had to wait seventeen minutes before they struck an equaliser. Left winger Craig McGovern fizzed the ball down the left hand flank from inside his own half. The ball was latched onto by striker Ross Archibald twenty five yards out who- buoyed by his four goals on Saturday- ran at lilywhites right-back Struan Scott-Woodhouse twisting and turning his way towards goal before crossing in a low cross from the by-line which was inadvertedly turned into his own net by Clachnacuddin’s Martin Callum from a few yards.

After the kick-off the away side went straight back into the ascendency, restoring their lead on twenty two minutes. Attacker Scott Graham had possession of the ball on the right side of the pitch twenty yards from goal and his dipped inside the defender on his left foot before lashing a ferocious strike on Stuart Knight’s goal. The ball was too hot to handle for the Forres keeper who only managed to palm the ball back into the danger area instead of tipping it around the right hand post. The frantic Forres defence managed to partially clear the ball, however it fell to Sean Ellis fifteen yards from goal, who smashed the ball into the roof of the net.

After the away missed a good chance to extend their lead on thirty four, courtesy of Gordon Morrison, they finally did so three minutes later. Sean Ellis played an in-swinging corner from the left hand side into the middle of the six yard box, however it was cleared by a Forres defender. The ball then fell to midfielder Chris Ross twenty two yards out and it was played to his teammate on the right wing Allan Pollock. He then played a lofted ball into a great area for his team to attack and after a bit of pinball in the box Gordon Morrison struck the ball first time across the keeper into the bottom right hand corner of the net from eleven yards, atoning for his earlier miss.

From this point on it never looked as though the Mechanics were going to find a route back into the game. Clach picked up virtually every first and second ball in midfield with the likes of Allan Pollock and Chris Ross showing a great deal of composure the best of the attacking moves of the second forty five.

Forres Mechanics: S Knight, S Allan, S Fraser, G Grant, G Fraser, M McMullan (D Jones 60) R Archibald, S Moore (R Macpherson 60), R Mackintosh (L Fraser 77), K Scott, C McGovern Subs: K Duiguid, C Stuart

Scorer: Martin Callum (20 og)

Booked: S Moore (59), R Macpherson (68) G Grant (90) Sent Off: -

Clachnacuddin J Campbell, S Woodhouse, M Callum, B WMilne, C Williamson, M Finnis, C Ross, A Pollock, G Morrison (M Kennedy 79), S Graham (S Urquhart 70), S Ellis (P Brindle 82) Subs: M Dougal, B Lawrie

Scorers: G Grant (2og) S Ellis (22), G Morrison (37)

Booked: - Sent Off: -

Referee: D Ross

Gazette Gold Star: It was genuinely tough to pick anyone out from this game as Clach seemed to have the edge all over the park but for his industry and producing a few moments of excitement for the home support it goes to Ross Archibald.