Lossiemouth striker Shaun Cameron wants to keep shooting Coasters up Highland League table as rejection from Forres Mechanics made him realise he needed to work harder
Lossiemouth young gun Shaun Cameron believes rejection at another club spurred him on to become a Highland league success.
The 21-year-old has made a lightning start with the Coasters, netting three goals in his first six games including match-winning contributions in his last two.
The Rothes-based plumber first stepped up to senior football in the summer of 2023 with Forres Mechanics, who were alerted to his performances in the juniors for Dufftown.
That move didn’t work out for Cameron, but gave him the determination to improve his game and come back stronger.
“Forres are a great club and everything, but I just never really got an opportunity,” he said.
“I think it actually kind of helped me a wee bit, not really getting an opportunity, it kind of showed that maybe I needed to do more, and told me I maybe needed to work harder.”
The young attacker elected to take the step back down to juniors with Dufftown again, start enjoying his football again and see where it took him.
This time Lossie were attracted to his talents and manager Steve Porter made his move to give Cameron a quickfire return to the Highland League.
He debuted in a 3-1 home defeat to high-flying Brechin City, then scored in his first away trip at Clach, albeit a 5-1 loss.
Two more defeats ended the Coasters’ year with fears of being drawn into a relegation battle with Strathspey Thistle and Rothes, but two priceless victories this month have propelled them up the table.
Cameron netted in the 2-0 wins over Strathspey and Keith, and playing as centre forward had given him an urge to get on the scoresheet on a regular basis.
“We're full of confidence from the past two games, so we just need to keep it going really.
“There was a wee bit of worry, knowing that relegation was a big thing this season, but these two wins have kind of given us a bit of breathing space now.
“When I scored against Strathspey last Saturday, and getting another one against Keith, I just can't wait for the next Saturday to come again. I'm just really hungry to score more goals.”
“Dufftown were great with me, they kind of gave me the platform to go and kind of show what I can do.
“Coming to Lossie, I knew a good few of them through youth football and the juniors. I knew they were all a good bunch of lads, so it was easy to go in and mix with them. They've been great with me so far.
“The manager has helped me a lot and he's shown quite a bit of faith in me, playing me from the start.
“There’s a few players like myself who have been given a platform by Lossie to show what we can do. It's good to see that junior players are capable of stepping up and playing in the Highland League.”
Lossie boss Porter admitted Saturday’s 2-0 win over Keith wasn’t his team’s best performance and Cameron revealed what was said to spur him on and get his team’s opening goal on the hour mark.
“He said at half-time that I should have maybe kept myself a bit more central, as I was drifting wide quite a bit so he told me to stay in between the posts.
“The goal kind of came through that, me peeling off the back of the defender and just putting it past the goalie.
“The goal maybe pushed Keith on and we were a bit under pressure for the majority of the second half, but Matty's (Nicol) goal finished it off. It was a big relief.”
Now Cameron has this weekend’s hosts Nairn County in his sights as he aims to find the net for the third game running - who knows it could be three wins in a row for the improving Coasters.