(01/02/2025 – BREEDON HIGHLAND LEAGUE, STATION PARK, NAIRN)
Lossiemouth begin the month of February by heading way out west to face Nairn County at Station Park in the latest installment of The Dolphin Derby. The Coasters go into the game on a high after two wins on the spin, while Nairn will be eager to get back to business after sitting out last weekend but find themselves under new management after Ross Tokely was mutually consented less than a season into his stewardship of the first team.
LEAGUE FORM (MOST RECENT RESULT FIRST)…
LOSSIEMOUTH – WWLLLL; LEAGUE POSITION – 15th, GF 21, GA 50, GD -29, Pts 16
The Coasters ended a long losing streak two weeks ago with a home win over Strathspey Thistle and followed it up with the annual skelping of Keith last weekend. The Maroons are now without so much as a goal at Grant Park since September 2019, and only rarely looked like ending their goal drought ahead of the long journey back to Aberdeen. Since the win, Lossie have taken Brodie Allen in on loan from Huntly until the end of the season, and everyone hopes the talented youngster can get back to goalscoring business with his old side. Two home wins are all well and good but Lossie have work to do on their away form, having collected just one win and one draw from their eleven road trips this season.
NAIRN COUNTY – LWLDLL ; LEAGUE POSITION – 13th, GF 36, GA 41, GD -5, Pts 26
Nairn County have had an unpredictable season, not helped by once again finding home form hard to come by. The Wee County have played eleven league games on their own turf this season and won just twice – against Keith and Wick Academy – while losing on five occasions, including a reverse to Rothes. Nairn have slumped from a high position of ninth in the table back in October to thirteenth. In recent weeks, Nairn have seen manager Tokely depart and livewire forward Matthew Wright has left to join Brora Rangers. Brian Macleod will take charge of Nairn for the remainder of the season.
LEAGUE TABLE…
Elsewhere this weekend, Keith host Strathspey Thistle, Rothes entertain Deveronvale, and Wick Academy travel to Turriff United.
LAST TIME AGAINST NAIRN COUNTY…
14/09/2024 – Lossiemouth 0-4 Nairn County
The Coasters welcomed the Wee County to the Bernagow and proved to be very generous hosts, as Nairn were permitted to score once in the first half and then three times after the break on their way to all three points. Andrew Greig scored once in either half , while late efforts from Ben Barron and Scott Lisle – the latter goal coming from the penalty spot – won the game for Nairn.
LAST TIME AGAINST NAIRN COUNTY AT STATION PARK…
31/01/2024 – Nairn County 5-1 Lossiemouth
Station Park has only rarely been a happy hunting ground for Lossie, with the 2021/22 season being a rarity as Lossie won on two occasions – once in the North of Scotland Cup, and once in the league. The last trip was one to forget, and although the first half ended with Nairn narrowly in front, the second saw the hosts outpace the Coasters on their way to the points.
PREVIOUS SIX LEAGUE GAMES AT STATION PARK…
31/01/2024 – Nairn County 5-1 Lossiemouth
28/01/2023 – Nairn County 2-0 Lossiemouth
02/04/2022 – Nairn County 0-1 Lossiemouth – Match report – Photos
13/04/2019 – Nairn County 1-0 Lossiemouth
26/08/2017 – Nairn County 6-2 Lossiemouth
29/10/2016 – Nairn County 2-1 Lossiemouth
Wins at Station Park are rarer than hens teeth – the victory in 2022 was the first league victory since February 2002. A couple of draws have appeared, in 2008 and 2011, and Lossie do find the net at the ground with some regularity – Nairn have kept just seven clean sheets in the last twenty league meetings.
LOOK AT HIS FACE! JUST LOOK AT HIS FACE!
BACK IN THE DAY…
19/11/2011 – Nairn County 3-3 Lossiemouth
An autumn trip to Nairn saw the sides share six goals, with the hosts racing into a two-goal lead with efforts from Steven Mackay and Conor Gethins, before Steven Sim and Liam Archibald levelled up the scores. Wikipedia enthusiast Mackay looked like he’d won the game for the hosts with his second of the game five minutes from time, only for Ross Archibald to salvage a point for Lossie with a header as time ran out.
TOP SCORERS…
Ross Archibald and Brandon Hutcheson continue to lead the way with four apiece for Lossie, while Ben Barron has thirteen goals across all competitions for Nairn.
MATCH OFFICIALS…
The match referee is Lewis M. Brown, who will be ably assisted by semaphore enthusiasts John Falconer and Jamie Akass. Brown was last seen in charge of a Lossie game at The Haughs when he oversaw Turriff’s narrow August win, while the same man took charge of Nairn’s loss at Buckie Thistle in October.
BEFORE THE GAME…
Uncle Bob’s will do you a beverage, and post-match the Legion will take good care of you while your lift phones the wife to say there’s roadworks and you’ll be late.
IF YOU’RE GOING TO THE GAME…
Door tax is a tenner. Concessions a fiver. Please arrive early. The home fans like a rowdy away support so if you’re going, mind and make plenty of noise in the shed!
ON THE DAY…
Updates and the like will be available on Twitter from before KO.
SOCIAL MEDIA TEAM PREDICTION…
Sunshine and goals for both sides.
