First Highland League win since August satisfies Forres Mechanics manager Steven MacDonald but improvements needed for Moray derby clash with Lossiemouth on Saturday

After ten Highland League matches without victory, Forres Mechanics put their bad run to bed with a 2-0 success away to Strathspey Thistle.

First half goals by Ethan Cairns and Shaun Morrison earned Cans their first league success since a 2-1 win over Keith on August 19.

Manager Steven MacDonald was pleased to end the wait for three league points and said his men deserved their victory - but they can still do better.

"I felt we were the better team and they didn’t really cause us any problems," he said. "Yes, there were things we could have done better but we did enough, we got the goals.

"In the second half Strathspey came into it more but they didn’t have great chances to score.

"I said to the boys at the end, that they are better than they showed in the second half so we are not sitting on that, happy that we’ve done the job.

"Strathspey could have got a goal and left us panicking towards the end.

"I’m pleased to get a clean sheet and the points, the way things have been going."

In that ten-game winless streak, Mechanics' luck completely ran out. They weren't defeated by more than two goals, competed well in away trips to Formartine and Brora and held current leaders Banks O' Dee to a draw.

"Performances have been better than our results have shown but we haven’t had anything from them until this one.

"It was good to get back to winning ways, that was the main thing."

MacDonald is well aware that a more stern test lies in store this weekend when they welcome Lossiemouth to Grant Park.

The Coasters were a shade unfortunate to lose 1-0 to Fraserburgh on Saturday, having won four of their previous five league encounters.

"They have been doing well and seem to have a good squad there," MacDonald said. "They have been hard to score against and they are quite solid."