Rothes 1 Forres Mechanics 0: Late Graham Fraser own goal leads to cruel defeat for Cans
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A LAST-MINUTE own goal from Graham Fraser saw Forres Mechanics beaten 1-0 by Rothes on Saturday.
The Can-Cans competed well throughout the 90 minutes, but conceded yet another late goal to go down to an agonising defeat.
Manager Steven MacDonald, who used to be Rothes boss, was left frustrated after the game.
He said: "It (the winner) was totally undeserved. I thought the boys were excellent.
"But they need to start learning quickly, and I don't think they're learning quickly enough, because that's Nairn, Brechin and now Rothes that we have lost last-minute goals.
"I'm not putting that down to a coincidence or hard luck, that's just not good enough.
"They let themselves down at the end after doing everything right."
The first chance of the game fell to Rothes after 20 minutes as Ross Gunn fired over the crossbar from a central position after a Euan MacLauchlan cross.
The home side almost sneaked ahead at the end of a first half that Forres would have been the happier with. MacLauchlan again got in down the left, but this time his cross was turned against the post by Graham Fraser, who somehow blocked Greg Morrison's follow up.
Rothes had the first chance of the second period as Aidan Wilson's lob went wide of the mark, but Forres confidence grew as the second half wore on.
Lee Fraser had a golden chance to put the Cans ahead on 65 minutes as Allan Macphee's pass put him through on goal, but his finish was tame and easily saved by Sean McCarthy.
With 10 minutes to play, the visitors passed up another big opportunity, this time Lee Fraser was provider as ex-Speysider Kane Davies broke through the heart of the Rothes defence, only to narrowly turn his shot wide under pressure.
Rothes goalkeeper McCarthy was more than a touch fortunate to hear the referee's whistle on 88 minutes as he was caught on the ball out of position and hit the floor under minimal contact.
Just as it seemed Forres would hold on, Greg Morrison's shot deflected off of Callum Johnston and against the post, falling in the direction of the unfortunate Graham Fraser who put through his own net in the 92nd minute.
MacDonald added: "The last game between these two teams was 7-0 and there's been a lot of progress made since then.
"But just now it doesn't feel like it."
The Highland League's bottom side Fort William are the visitors to Mosset Park on Wednesday.
