(26/03/2022 – BREEDON HIGHLAND LEAGUE, GRANT STREET PARK, INVERNESS)
Lossiemouth round off the month of March with a trip to the Highland capital to face Clachnacuddin. Lossie’s long winless record at the ground needs no further introduction, so we’ll leave it there for now. Both sides lost narrowly in midweek in a pair of industrial encounters, and both can still improve on their current league position before the end of the season.
LEAGUE FORM (MOST RECENT RESULT FIRST)…
LOSSIEMOUTH – LLWLLL, GF 6, GA 21; LEAGUE POSITION – 15th
The season is just about done and while Lossie have long since sailed beyond points totals from recent seasons, work still needs to be done to finish off the season on a high. The reverse in Brora came at the hands of an excellent team that will come up just short in the title race and so isn’t one to be too disheartened about, but the loss to Keith in midweek was a sore one and will need to be avenged, ideally in Inverness. Goals remain hard to come by but it’s certainly not been for a lack of trying, particularly at Keith. A points total north of 30 is still a possibility for Lossie, given the run-in.
CLACH – LWWLLW, GF 8, GA 13; LEAGUE POSITION – 10th
Clach remain in the bottom half of the table, and will almost certainly finish inamongst the mass of clubs with 20+ points who’ve been fighting with each other all season. The Inverness side started the season with just two losses from their opening eight games as they began September in fourth, but have found consistency hard to come by. Wins against Strathspey Thistle and Nairn County earlier in March have improved Clach’s position but they remain just six points ahead of Lossie. Like Lossie, Clach also faced Brora at Dudgeon Park recently and shipped half a dozen goals, while a second round loss to Forres Mechanics in the Highland League Cup left them with just league position to play for as the season started to wind down. Their last outing saw Formartine come to Grant Street Park and win 0-1 in a stuffy encounter, while their last win was last Saturday (19/03) at home against Nairn.
EARLIER THIS SEASON…
25/08/2021 – Lossiemouth 0-2 Clachnacuddin – Match Report
The two sides last met on a late summer evening at Grant Park, and a headed goal from Liam Taylor gave Clach the lead early on, and while the tourists failed to build on their lead they were assisted by a red card for Lossie’s James Leslie. Clach put the game to bed late on as James Anderson found the net. Click here for the match report.
LAST TIME AT GRANT STREET PARK…
05/10/2019 – Clachnacuddin 2-0 Lossiemouth
Lossie were last at Grant Street Park in the pre-Covid world, with a trip in October 2019 going the way of the hosts. Kevin Flett skied a penalty over the bar and halfway to Telford Street with an hour gone and the game still goalless, and Clach went on to win courtesy of goals from Steven Ross and Ross Logan.
LAST SIX LEAGUE GAMES AT GRANT STREET PARK
05/10/2019 – Clachnacuddin 2-0 Lossiemouth
11/08/2018 – Clachnacuddin 1-0 Lossiemouth
02/08/2017 – Clachnacuddin 2-1 Lossiemouth
04/02/2017 – Clachnacuddin 2-0 Lossiemouth
26/03/2016 – Clachnacuddin 2-1 Lossiemouth
14/02/2015 – Clachnacuddin 5-1 Lossiemouth
LAST WIN AT GRANT STREET PARK…
03/01/2004 – Clachnacuddin 0-1 Lossiemouth
The new year was three days old and Clach were top of the table and going for the title with Deveronvale on their heels. Lossie rolled into town without an away win all season and in need of a positive result to drag them away from the bottom two. Clach were unbeaten at that point (P15, W12, D3) but needed to turn around a bad December which had ended with a pair of draws. Lossie’s need for points ensured the game was more of a contest than many were expecting, and late in the game Stuart Strathdee scored the opener, and ultimately the winner as Lossie burst a few coupons on a crisp afternoon in Inverness. It was the first time that season Clach had failed to score, something they’d only go on to do just once more in the league on the way to winning the championship.
THE LATE, LATE SHOW
Late goals have become a feature of this game in recent seasons. Two inside the last dozen minutes in 2019, one eight minutes from time in 2018, two in the last eight minutes in 2016, and five in the closing twelve minutes in 2015, all coming for the hosts.
WAY BACK WHEN…
06/11/2010 – Clachnacuddin 2-2 Lossiemouth – Match Report – Match Photos
There was more late drama in 2010 as Lossie came within a whisker of leaving Inverness with the points for the first time in six years. Nikki Smith scored once from open play and once from the penalty spot, but a goal from Gordon Morrison kept Clach in the game, and Morrison ruined Lossie’s afternoon with a last-minute leveller for the hosts.
TOP SCORERS…
James Anderson remains one of the top scorers in the league, having plundered 20 goals in the league and 1 on cup duty this season, while eleven other players have chipped in with at least one goal during the campaign. Dean Stewart still leads the way with 5 for Lossie.
ON THE DAY…
Updates and the like will be available on Twitter from before KO, with the usual post-match spread sometime later in the evening.
SOCIAL MEDIA TEAM PREDICTION…
Late goals.