Scott heads home to net points for Cans

Brora Rangers 0 Forres Mechanics 1

Forres Mechanics closed the gap on league leaders Cove Rangers to six points as they gained some revenge for their opening day defeat by edging out Brora Rangers thanks to a solitary Kyle Scott strike midway through the second half.

However it was the post match comments of Brora boss Davie Kirkwood that were to be one of the biggest talking points after this game as despite having been shut out while the Mechanics struck the woodwork three times as well as finding the back of the net the former Rangers midfielder claimed that “it was total domination” from the Cattachs.

Kirkwood

He stated, “There was only one team on the park playing the possession football. It was total domination from us, if we’d taken our chances in the first half we’d have been out of sight.

Not finished there he bemoaned a decision that saw the referee blow up incorrectly for an offside that never materialised and claimed that cost his team the game. He continued, “It was a carve up the key moment was the offside decision against us before they scored.

“The referee held his hands up and apologised after the game but that was no use to us. It was too late. My club was punished, the players were still hurting, it took the stuffing out of us. Two minutes later they play a long ball and we lose the goal. It was a joke getting an apology”

Forres boss Charlie Rowley kept his cool and stepped back from any potential slanging match by pointing out that there was no guarantee that a goal was coming from the incident in question,

“I spoke to the officials, they did hold their hands up, but Brora still had to convert the chance, there is no saying the player would have scored. Brora didn’t put the incident to the back of their minds, we adapted better to the decision.”

Going on to give a more balanced appraisal of the game Rowley added, “In the first 25-30 minutes, Brora had good pressure and they were the better team up to that point. We had to defend well and Stuart Knight had a couple of saves to make but once we adapted to the conditions, and the way they played, I felt we edged it

“We were playing a team with four straight wins, so to get a clean sheet and a victory was great. I felt we deserved it. The result first and foremost is most important, we hit the bar twice and the post

“It was a good three points to get and we must now move on and look forward to what is always a tasty local derby against Lossiemouth.”

Graeme Grant recovered sufficiently from the knee injury that saw him limp off in the opening stages of the win over Buckie Thistle last weekend to ensure the same starting eleven was listed by the Mechanics.

It was Brora who opened the game on the front foot as they moved the ball around well in the early stages. A short free kick from Stuart Golabek to Steve Mackay saw him pick out Liam Baxter but the former Forres transfer target put his shot wide.

Martin McLean and Liam Baxter both worked their way into one on one situations but failed to find the net something that was repeated by Steve Mackay, a point worth noting given the home teams moaning with regards the second half “offside” decision.

After the opening half hour Forres had firmly settled into the game and in the end they were unlucky not to go in at half time in front. Nathan Sharp almost broke the bar with a long range effort that had Ally Ridgers beaten but battered off the frame of the goal.

Then Kevin Duguid’s dangerous cross was turned onto his own post by veteran defender Stuart Golabek. As it was the half ended goalless but the Mechanics had begun to flex their muscles.

The first chance of the second half went the way of the Cattachs. Steve Mackay spread play to Liam Baxter and his low cross teased the former Forres Mechanics man Craig Campbell, but his stuttering start to his time at Dudgeon Park continued as he failed to connect.

Then came the controversy. A ball through the middle of the defence saw the flag raised to signify and offside against Liam Baxter, however he had declined the chase for the ball in favour of the onside Steve Mackay who was striding on to his second 1v1 of the afternoon when the whistle blew.

Recognising the error a bounceball was the award but while Brora moaned Forres took full advantage of this break to get their noses in front just minutes later. From a corner kick Kyle Scott used his height to rise and guide a header beyond Ally Ridgers to the delight of the Mechanics bench.

At that point the Iron Curtain came down as Forres’ back line shut up shop and kept the lucrative line up at bay without too much difficulty in the closing quarter of this encounter.

The Mechanics will host Lossiemouth this weekend looking to make it three wins on the spin as they aim to reignite the defence of their title.

Brora Rangers: A Ridgers, S Skinner (A Greig 77), S Golabek, D Hind, A Lamb, M McLean, D Gillespie, R Hart, C Campbell (R Grant 73), S Mackay, L Baxter Subs: C Ross, K Maclean, J Allan

Scorers: -

Booked: - Sent Off: -

Forres Mechanics: S Knight, G Fraser, S Fraser (S Allan 63), G Grant, N Sharp, S Lawrie, M McMullan (R Macpherson 70), K Duguid, R Green (M Davidson 74), K Scott, C McGovern Subs: J Main, M Fraser

Scorer: K Scott (65)

Booked G Grant (16), K Duguid (67), K Scott (82) Sent Off: -

Referee: C Sim

Gazette Gold Star: Having pulled the strings and looked like the Can Cans most creative player this week’s Gold Star goes to Kevin Duguid.