(26/03/2022 – BREEDON HIGHLAND LEAGUE, GRANT STREET PARK, INVERNESS)
LOSSIEMOUTH left Inverness with a point after a late penalty equaliser against CLACHNACUDDIN. The Coasters were trailing to a first-half goal from James Anderson but in the final minute Dean Stewart converted from the spot to rescue a point.
Played in summery conditions, with the sun beating down from a cloudless sky onto a bobbly but green pitch, Lossie were out to win for the first time at Grant Street Park for the first time since 2004 but were left chasing the game almost immediately as James Anderson poked home a corner with a dozen minutes on the clock.
Lossie’s irregular habit of landing away points combined with form at the venue suggested this could be a long afternoon, but the tourists had given themselves plenty of time to find an equaliser and Clach looked happy with a single goal lead and never forced the issue. Chances for both sides were at a premium and neither goalkeeper was called upon to put down their match programme very often, and the gentleman enjoying a flying lesson overhead missed little from several thousand feet up.
The half ended with Clach coming close to doubling their lead. Harry Nicolson near burst the ball from a free kick that got the better of Logan Ross but not the frame of the goal, with the ball making a reassuringly loud ping as it hit the crossbar.
HALF TIME – CLACHNACUDDIN 1-0 LOSSIEMOUTH
Lossie took more control of the game in the second half and seemed happily camped in Clach territory but only rarely made an approach towards goal as Clach held their shape. Home goalkeeper Martin Mackinnon watched on as a Dean Stewart free kick landed on the roof of the net, and the same player got on the end of a deflected cross from substitute Fraser Forbes but sent the ball over the bar
Appeals for a penalty were waved away after a foul on Baylee Campbell inside the area, in circumstances similar to those on Wednesday night when the same played was bundled over only for nothing to be given.
With time rapidly running out, Lossie were handed a lifeline. Dean Stewart went through on goal and lobbed Mackinnon, but tumbled into the goalkeeper as the ball drifted wide of goal. Referee Kevin Buchanan slowly considered the incident before pointing to the spot, and Stewart himself took the spot kick, sending Mackinnon the wrong way.
The equaliser didn’t come late enough in the game to allow Lossie to immediately celebrate a point and Clach sought to restore their lead in the remaining moments, but were denied again as Logan Ross tipped a shot over the bar, allowing Lossie to see out time to claim their first point at the ground since November 2010.
The Coasters now head into the final weeks of the season starting a trip to Nairn County, followed by two home games against Strathspey Thistle and Brechin City as the campaign comes to a close.
FULL TIME – CLACHNACUDDIN 1-1 LOSSIEMOUTH
TEAMS:
CLACHNACUDDIN – Martin Mackinnon; Ryan Mackintosh, Ben Cormack, Shaun Sutherland, James Anderson, Robbie Thompson (Blair Lawrie (80)), Calum Black, Alisdair Gillies, Kieran Chalmers (Connor Bunce (60)), Harry Nicolson, Lewis Mackenzie (Lewis Nicolson (60)); UNUSED SUBS – Lewis Nicolson, Blair Lawrie, Liam Taylor, Connor Bunce, Riley Mackenzie, James Calder, Daniel Rae
LOSSIEMOUTH – Logan Ross; Fergus Edwards, Michael Weir, Jared Kennedy Dean Stewart, Liam Archibald, Ryan Stuart (Aleksander Matczak (90)), Ross Morrison (Fraser Forbes (60)), Niall Kennedy (Connor Macaulay (73)), Baylee Campbell, Lewis McAndrew; UNUSED SUBS – Ross Archibald, James Leslie, Max Taylor, Oliver Kelly
GOALS:
CLACHNACUDDIN – James Anderson (15)
LOSSIEMOUTH – Dean Stewart (89, pen)
REFEREE:
Kevin Buchanan