(05/08/2023 – BREEDON HIGHLAND LEAGUE – GRANT PARK, LOSSIEMOUTH)
Lossiemouth were undone by a second half performance from their opponents for the second week in a row, this time at home to Forres Mechanics. The game was more than an hour old before the opening goal, and it came from the penalty spot, ahead of ran almost immediate second. Forres wrapped up the points in the final minute with a third goal with the last kick of the game.
The game started in overcast conditions with the sun threatening to peek through all afternoon, and a healthy crowd had turned out to see the first home game of the new season. Fergus Edwards went into the starting line-up for Lossie, while Forres were beginning life without recent absentees Stuart M. Knight and Graham Fraser, the former having retired from football to sign on at Buckie Thistle and the latter sadly retiring through injury. Lossie were once again in all red, while Forres debuted their new white outfit in place of the Tombliboo-inspired brown and yellow hoops which have made a comeback for this year.
The crowd flowed smoothly through the turnstiles and was in place well ahead of kick-off, but a quiet first half gave those in attendance little to cheer and those tasked with writing a match report had yet to put paper to pencil with more than half an hour gone as neither side worked the other particularly hard. A couple of stray bookings were the only points of note, one being for Ryan Farquhar of Lossie.
The half ended with a spot of handbags in the centre circle. Both sides took exception to a tackle by Craig Mackenzie on Farquhar and almost every player weighed in for a full and frank exchange of opinions, with Forres goalkeeper Lee Herbert putting down his newspaper and racing from his area to the middle of the park.
HALF TIME – LOSSIEMOUTH 0-0 FORRES MECHANICS
The second half started in the much the same fashion, but early in the half Lossie offered a glimpse of what might be as a long ball over the top caught Forres standing still. Ross Elliott raced through but was felled by Herbert who was once again a long way out of his area. Referee Gordon Morrison saw no reason to award a foul for the entanglement and play carried on, to the despair of the home dugout.
With just over an hour gone things swung in favour of the tourists. A frustrated Farquhar was adjudged by referee Morrison to have fouled Craig Mackenzie just inside the penalty area, and the resulting spot kick was squeezed home by Lee Fraser. Already on a booking, Farquhar was substituted for Fraser Forbes before the game restarted.
Just ninety seconds later, Forres doubled their lead. Shaun Morrison motored down the right and drilled a low ball towards goal, with James Leslie getting a long leg to the ball but deflecting it into his own net.
The lead took out of the game what little edge their had been up until that point, and already rare chances became even rarer. Lossie went closest to scoring the third goal of the game, with Fraser Forbes deflecting a pass underneath Herbert and across goal, only to watch the ball roll inches wide of the far post.
With Lossie piling forward in the closing moments, Forres broke away and Shaun Morrison rifled home the final goal of the afternoon with the last kick of the game.
The Coasters now host Formartine United at Grant Park ahead of a midweek trip to Huntly.
FULL TIME – LOSSIEMOUTH 0-3 FORRES MECHANICS
TEAMS…
LOSSIEMOUTH – Cameron Farquhar; James Leslie, Jared Kennedy, Dean Stewart, Fergus Edwards (Ryan Stuart (70), Liam Archibald, Niall Kennedy (Ross Morrison (80)), Ross Paterson, Brandon Hutcheson, Ryan Farquhar (Fraser Forbes (63)), Ross Elliott (Ryan O’Halloran (70)); UNUSED SUBS – Michael Weir, Ross Archibald, Ally Bellingham, Lewis Mcandrew, Oliver Kelly
FORRES MECHANICS – Lee Herbert; Thomas Brady (Andrew Skinner (69)), Callum Howarth, Ruari Fraser, Lee Fraser, Mark McLauchlan (Shaun Cameron (79)), Dylan Lawrence (Shaun Morrison (55)), Jack Grant, Ethan Cairns (Samba Badjana (79)), Craig Mackenzie, Calum Frame (Taylor Thain (69)); UNUSED SUBS – Lucas Davidson, Aidan Macdonald
GOALS:
FORRES MECHANICS – Lee Fraser (62, pen), James Leslie (64, OG), Shaun Morrison (90+)
REFEREE: Gordon Morrison
