Match postponement doesn't upset league leaders

CONCERN over a hamstring strain picked up by top scorer, Lee Fraser, meant the Mosset Park manager, Charlie Rowley, wasn’t too disappointed about the Friday night call off at Fort William.

Revealing the news to the ‘Gazette’, he said: "Lee hurt his hamstring at training on Tuesday, got physio on Wednesday, and trained again on Thursday. Possibly, it is a blessing in disguise, because there was a chance of making the injury worse if he played on Saturday.

"So, on one hand we were disappointed not to have a game on Saturday, but having said that, there would have been three or four players missing, and maybe it wasn’t such a bad game to miss."

In contrast, the squad should be almost at full strength for the game at home against Fraserburgh on Saturday.

Rowley continued: "Willie Barron and Garry Tweedie would both have missed the trip to Fort William due to work commitments, but they will be back this weekend.

"It was a last minute thing with Tweedie, but Willie let me know after the game at Brora that he would miss the next two Saturdays, so we were able to plan ahead. Therefore, hopefully, we will have a full squad available, barring Chucky Macpherson who is suspended."

Fraserburgh’s loss to Huntly on Saturday meant that the Broch remain nine points behind Forres, and prevented the situation where a win at Mosset could have seen Kris Hunter’s team close the gap to just three points.

When this point was raised, the former Rothes, Lossiemouth, Buckie and Deveronvale forward demonstrated how focussed he is on his own team’s performance.

"To be perfectly honest I have no idea how many points Fraserburgh are behind," he began. "I knew they were the team that could go second if they won their game in hand, but I have only really focussed on the team that is closest to us."

"It was not a shock result as such, but I expected them to get at least a point at home, but that will mean they will be fired up for the game on Saturday.

"They will be thinking they have to do something at Mosset Park in order to hang on to our coat tails. It will be difficult, but we have a good record against them at home."

Instead of football on Saturday, the team came together for their Christmas meal, which was a memorable team bonding night out, and coincided with the manager’s 43rd birthday.

It was a night that will provide plenty of banter for the dressing room for the weeks ahead.

"Apart from spending birthday with my family, I couldn’t have spent birthday with a better company of boys. It was good team bonding, although I am sure there were a fair few who have felt better on a Sunday morning.

"We considered training on the Saturday morning, but we already had the night out planned, and it wouldn’t have been fair on the guys travelling to Forres and back twice in the one day. You tend to forget that there is a lot of commitment involved in playing in the Highland League, and it is not often that the players get a Saturday off.

"The fitness levels are not an issue. There were guys taking time off work for the early kick-off at Fort William. It gave them a chance to go in and work, keeping their time off for another day.

"We will go back into an intense session on Tuesday, with a lighter one on Thursday, ahead of the Fraserburgh game."