Cans regain Mojo for cup tie

Rothes 0 Forres Mechanics 4

Forres Mechanics re-found their mojo according to manager Charlie Rowley after the Can Cans mauled Rothes in the Breedons Aggregates Highland League Cup second round tie at Mackessack Park on Saturday.

The 4-0 scoreline a fair reflection of the gap between the two teams on the day with the Mechanics beginning to play with a bit of a swagger. Rowley reflected positively on the display, “We had a wee bit of our mojo back today with the way we knocked it about.”

“We felt that a few individuals hadn’t been playing to their usual standards and we gave them a wee pep talk before the game. They rose to the challenge and I am pleased to say they were back to the levels we expect from them.”

An illness that affected Ross County loanee Steven Ross lead to a tactical alteration with Kyle Scott and Willie Barron paired in attack and the 4-4-2 formation worked well with Barron scoring twice and Scott claiming a couple of assists.

Rowley continued, “Steven Ross was ill for the three days previous to the game and that was the main reason he missed out. I have been pleased with him coming in so we may not have went with the two strikers in the same combination had he been fit.”

“We varied the play really well, at times going direct to Kyle up front and at other times keeping the ball on the deck throughout the build up. While the main thing was to get through I am really pleased with the performance.”

A quick glance at the team sheet showed that Rothes were up against it going into this game with Matty Fraser, a player on loan from the Mechanics, one of only two subs listed by the Speysiders with both of them being strikers. Recent signing from Forres Kevin Shortreed was unavailable while the transfer of Steven Fraser in the other direction left a hole in the heart of the home defence.

Forres welcomed Ross Macpherson back into the heart of their midfield with Kyle Scott pushed into an attacking role in the absence of Steven Ross in the only change to the side that drew with Clachnacuddin last weekend.

Rothes had their best spell in the opening few minutes, recording their only shot at goal before the Mechanics took a ninth minute lead. The goal came from a Neil Whyte throughball which deflected off left back Scott Bowie and fell kindly for Willie Barron who lifted the ball over Ricky Horne.

The homesters then passed up their best opening of the game when Stephen Robertson sent Michael McKinnon in on goals but the pint sized striker wasted the opportunity with a finish that lacked composure and bounced harmlessly wide of Stuart Knight’s goal.

Nathan Sharp, another former Rothes captain who made the switch to Chocolate and Gold, rattled a shot into the side netting after Graham Fraser headed a Simon Allan free kick into the danger area before Forres essentially sealed their progression with a second goal before the break.

Simon Allan and Scott Moore combined on the left wing to create the space for the former to weight the ball through to Willie Barron who prodded home his second of the game to move him into fourth in the Mechanics scoring chart.

The former Nairn County man very nearly made it two in two minutes and three for the afternoon when he raced in on another Neil Whyte throughball. Ricky Horne bravely slid out at the striker’s feet but having got their first he fumbled the ball and Barron quickly turned it goalwards. Unfortunately for him left back Scott Bowie had nipped onto the line to cover the keeper and booted clear.

The second half became a procession towards the Rothes goal with the tone being set just four minutes after the turnaround when Neil Whyte and Kyle Scott combined to set up Scott Moore, but his dipping shot flew just over the bar from 20 yards.

The lead became three goals in the 52 minute when a gaff from towering Rothes centre back Michael Dunn let Kyle Scott run in and shoot. The big man may have been denied by Ricky Horne but Iain Macrae’s urgency to get back towards the goalline simply saw the new Rothes captain divert the ball back into his own net.

Ross Macpherson and Willie Barron were replaced as a precaution after both picked up slight knocks while Matty Davidson came on for Neil Whyte with a quarter of an hour to as Rowley shuffled the pack.

Gordon McNab warmed the hands of Ricky Horne with a thumping left footed effort from 20 yards before Matt Davidson grabbed the supersub title for the week as he netted his second goal in the space of a couple of weeks.

A quick shift from defence to attack saw Kyle Scott gain possession and he played a low ball with the outside of his right foot towards the edge of the penalty area, tempting Matt Davidson much in the way an angler would tempt a fish on the nearby river and Davidson duly muscled his way past Dunn and coolly slotted the ball in at the near post to round off a fine afternoon for the Can Cans.

While break from the league campaign was a welcome one the Mechanics will now go into a heavy schedule of weekend and midweek matches which will include three gameas against Keith. TForres boss believes that the combination of league and cup games will stand his team in good stead during the remaining two months of the season.

“I think that if you are progressing in the cup you are playing really well and are pretty confident so the two competitions go hand in hand. I do think that if you get a good run in the cup the performances have to be decent and our performances have to be decent in the run in so I would say that the two competitions work together well and we will be looking to do the best that we can in both of them.”

Rothes: R Horne, A Grant (S McIntosh 49), S Bowie, I Macrae, G Gallacher, M Dunn, S Robertson (M Fraser 71),S Robison, M McKinnon, S McKinstry, S Massie Subs: -

Scorers: -

Booked: S Robison (44) Sent off: -

Forres Mechanics: S Knight, G Fraser, S Allan, G Grant, N Sharp, R Macpherson (G McNab 61), N Whyte (M Davidson 75), F Bremner, S Moore, K Scott, W Barron (K Duguid 71) Subs: S Ross, R Green

Scorers: W Barron (9, 39), I Macrae (52 og), M Davidson(82)

Booked: F Bremner (69) Sent Off: -

Referee: A Milne

Gazette Gold Star: Kyle Scott as the Mechanics Austin Powers as the big man returned to form in the attacking role. On a day for rediscovering your mojo he seemed to do everything but score on a day