Match Previews 2021/22

Lossiemouth v Brechin City – Match Preview

(16/04/2022 – BREEDON HIGHLAND LEAGUE, GRANT PARK, LOSSIEMOUTH)

Lossiemouth bring the curtain down on the season with a home game against Brechin City.

LEAGUE FORM (MOST RECENT RESULT FIRST)…

LOSSIEMOUTH – DWDLLW, GF 6, GA 11; LEAGUE POSITION – 15th

The Coasters go into the final game of the season unbeaten in three outings, with trips to Clach and Nairn both paying dividends ahead of a home draw with Strathspey last weekend. The Strathspey game should have been out of sight long before Thistle poached a point from a late penalty, but the draw represents improvement on the last meeting between the sides. Goals remain an issue for Lossie, who have scored just six in their last six games, but have at least managed to use them economically. Goals against have become rare too, with the game at Brora Rangers the odd one out as Lossie kept things tight in recent outings. Games against the sides at the top of the table have been a challenge for Lossie, with Buckie, Brora and Fraserburgh all completing league doubles, and Brechin will arrive eager to follow up their November win with another victory. This is not only the last game of the season, it’s the last chance to give one of the top sides a kick in the ankles after some healthy results against clubs in the bottom half.

Lossiemouth v Strathspey Thistle – click on the image for more

BRECHIN CITY – WWWWWW, GF 20, GA 3; LEAGUE POSITION – 3rd

The Chinners head for Lossie at the end of a long maiden season in the Highland League. Starting with a trio of defeats in the Scottish League Cup, Brechin have recovered and performed well during their league campaign, but their season more or less came down to a sloppy week in January when a three-goal lead over Fraserburgh was thrown away, before a trip to Formartine saw them lose by a single goal. Away from their own issues, three teams have recently won the league with fewer points than the total Brechin will amass this season, and while the winning run Buckie have put together is breaking all records, they themselves may yet miss out on the title, so Brechin can consider themselves unfortunate to have landed in the middle of such a title scrap. Brechin are in the middle of signing up their squad for next season and will be a sound bet for the title come the summer. Brechin have been marginally poorer on the road (P16, W12, L4) than they have been at home, while Lossie’s home form is somewhat better than their road record.

CURRENT LEAGUE TABLE…

League table as of Friday, April 15th, 2022

EARLIER THIS SEASON…

20/11/2021 – Brechin City 5-0 Lossiemouth

The two sides met for the first time back in November and Brechin ran out comfortable winners at Glebe Park, with a first half goal from Michael Paton setting the hosts up for victory. Garry Wood scored a second shortly after the break, and a trio of late goals from the home side put a shine on the score. David Cox scored twice as a patched-up Lossie ran out of puff, and Max Kucheriavyi added a late fifth.

LAST TIME AT GRANT PARK…

Nope.

PREVIOUS FIRST LEAGUE GAMES AT GRANT PARK…

06/02/2010 – Lossiemouth 2-2 Strathspey Thistle
31/10/2009 – Lossiemouth 2-2 Formartine United
10/10/2009 – Lossiemouth 1-2 Turriff United
21/08/2001 – Lossiemouth 1-1 Inverurie Loco Works
01/10/1994 – Lossiemouth 1-3 Wick Academy
06/08/1986 – Lossiemouth 3-2 Cove Rangers
18/01/1986 – Lossiemouth 3-0 Fort William

Maiden trips to Grant Park don’t always go as planned, as several other clubs have found. Inverurie needed a last-gasp penalty to salvage a draw, and Formartine had to recover from 2-0 down to earn their point.

ON ANOTHER FINAL DAY OF THE SEASON…

02/05/2009 – Fort William 1-3 Lossiemouth

Lossie ended the 2008/09 season with a win at Claggan Park, with goals from Shawn Scott, Martin McMullan and Tony Ross landing Lossie all three points on a sunny/rainy/misty/beautiful day in Fort William. The final day of the season isn’t always a successful one for Lossie, but after the past 25 months it’s just fine to get to one as planned.

Tony Ross (7) scores for Lossie at Fort William

TOP SCORERS…

Brechin haven’t been short of goals across the park this season, and David Cox leads the way on 17 across all competitions. Marc Scott is one behind, and Kieran Inglis and Julian Wade are on 13, and Garry Wood on 10. Lossie have Dean Stewart as top scorer with 6, and he needs one more to become outright top scorer at the club for the season, Brodie Allen having reached the same tally before departing for Huntly.

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. Post-match, the Players and Supporters Players of The Year Awards will be handed out in the social club.

BRECHIN FANS!

The address for the social club is 39-41 Macduff Street, Lossiemouth, IV31 6JA. Away fans will be made welcome before and after the game so come on in. Street parking is plentiful, and the ground is but a short walk away.

SOCIAL MEDIA TEAM PREDICTION…

Ah, what the hell. Home win!

Lossiemouth v Strathspey Thistle – Match Preview

(09/04/2022 – BREEDON HIGHLAND LEAGUE, GRANT PARK, LOSSIEMOUTH)

Lossiemouth return home to round out the season with a pair of home games, starting with Strathspey Thistle this coming weekend. The Jags have been below Lossie for most of the season but the Coasters need to be wary of a side that was victorious when the two last met in Grantown earlier in the campaign.

LEAGUE FORM (MOST RECENT RESULT FIRST)…

LOSSIEMOUTH – WDLLWL, GF 6, GA 15 ; LEAGUE POSITION – 15th

A four-game road trip saw Lossie loot four points from trip to Brora, Keith, Clach and Nairn, but it could have been more had chances been taken at Kynoch Park. The draw at Clach sent Lossie to Nairn in the best of spirits and come full time at Station Park the Coasters had collected their third away win of the season courtesy of a Connor Macaulay goal. The Wee County were kept quiet for most of the afternoon by a hardworking Lossie who deserved nothing less than a full set points. Click here for the match report.

Ryan Stuart in action at Nairn – click on the above image for more match photos

STRATHSPEY THISTLE – WLLWLL, GF 11, GA 19 ; LEAGUE POSITION – 16th

Strathspey head for the coast after tanning the hides of Forres Mechanics in midweek, a win that ensures Strathspey can’t finish bottom this season. They now sit directly below Lossie in the table but will be unable to overhaul the Coasters before the end of the campaign. A comfortable start to the season saw Thistle lose just two of their first six league games, but following a draw with Turriff they would win just once in their next eighteen outings (v Fort William). Thistle have scored more league goals than Lossie (44v31) but have conceded goals for fun (108v79) and have not kept a clean sheet on league duty since March 2020. Strathspey have picked up the majority (14v5) of their points at home and haven’t enjoyed their time on the road this season, winning just once and drawing twice away from home.

EARLIER THIS SEASON…

21/08/2021 – Strathspey Thistle 3-1 Lossiemouth – Match Report

The two sides last met early in the season and things went badly wrong for Lossie in Grantown, with a Ross Elliott goal coming after Strathspey had scored three to wrap up the points with time to spare. Click here for the match report.

LAST TIME AT GRANT PARK…

04/01/2020 – Lossiemouth 0-2 Strathspey Thistle

PREVIOUS SIX LEAGUE GAMES AT GRANT PARK…

06/10/2018 – Lossiemouth 2-4 Strathspey Thistle
19/08/2017 – Lossiemouth 3-2 Strathspey Thistle
18/02/2017 – Lossiemouth 4-1 Strathspey Thistle
09/01/2016 – Lossiemouth 4-1 Strathspey Thistle
11/10/2014 – Lossiemouth 2-1 Strathspey Thistle
08/03/2014 – Lossiemouth 2-2 Strathspey Thistle Report

ALL-TIME LEAGUE RECORD AT GRANT PARK…

P11, HW6, D3, AW2, HG23, AG17

WAY BACK WHEN…

25/07/2009 – Lossiemouth 4-3 Strathspey Thistle – Report – Photos

Strathspey Thistle made their senior debut at Grant Park in July 2009, when they came to the Jewel of Moray for a North of Scotland Cup tie in the build-up to their maiden season in the Highland League. Nikki Smith scored twice and Shawn Scott and Kevin Flett once each as Lossie eventually saw off the Jags to set up a second round tie with Nairn County.

TOP SCORERS…

Former Coaster Kris Duncan tops the charts for Strathspey with nine goals this season, while Dean Stewart continues to lead the way for Lossie with six goals.

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…

A feisty home win.

Nairn County v Lossiemouth – Match Preview

(02/04/2022 – BREEDON HIGHLAND LEAGUE, STATION PARK, NAIRN)

Lossiemouth play their final away game of the season this weekend, and head west to face NAIRN COUNTY at Station Park. The third meeting of the season between the two, the game sees Lossie visit Station Park looking to follow up their North of Scotland Cup victory at the ground back in July.

LEAGUE FORM (MOST RECENT RESULT FIRST)…

LOSSIEMOUTH – DLLWLL, GF 7, GA 18; LEAGUE POSITION – 15th

The Coasters head west after a draw with Clachnacuddin last weekend, with the point earned courtesy of a last-minute penalty tucked away by Dean Stewart. James Anderson had given Clach the lead with his second goal of the season against Lossie but the tourists were unfazed at falling behind and kept Clach quiet until Stewart’s late leveller. The draw – Lossie’s first on the road this season – adds a much-needed point to the away tally, which is somewhat smaller than the total earned at Grant Park as Lossie continue to suffer from mild travel sickness.

Baylee Campbell in action at Clach – click on the above image for more match photos

NAIRN – LLLLWW, GF 10, GA 10; LEAGUE POSITION – 9th

An opening day win at Keith was no sign of things to come for Nairn, who failed to win again in any competition until they knocked Strathspey Thistle out of the Scottish Cup nine games and two months later. Eliminated from the North of Scotland Cup on their own bit by Lossie, the Wee County conceded regularly in the opening half of the season, keeping just two clean sheets in their first nineteen games. A six-goal thrashing of Turriff United saw them improve as the weather worsened, picking up six wins through the winter months before losing their way in recent weeks, with their home loss to Formartine United their fourth in a row. Four of their last five defeats have been by just one goal.

EARLIER THIS SEASON…

06/11/2021 – Lossiemouth 1-1 Nairn County – Match Report – Match Photos

Ryan Farquhar in possession – click on the above image for more match photos

The two sides last met early in November, and a Sam Gordon goal for Nairn cancelled out an early Ryan Sewell penalty opener. Click here for the match report.

LAST TIME AT STATION PARK…

28/07/2021 – Nairn County 2-4 Lossiemouth (North of Scotland Cup first round)

A Ryan Stuart hat-trick was the highlight of the evening as Lossiemouth came from behind to oust Nairn from the North of Scotland Cup. Conor Gethins scored twice that evening for Nairn, but inbetween his pair came a treble for Stuart and a single for Ryan Sewell. A pair of red cards for Nairn – one for Gethins, the other for Max Ewan – put the tin lid on a miserable night for Nairn. Click here for the match report

LAST LEAGUE GAME AT STATION PARK…

13/04/2019 – Nairn County 1-0 Lossiemouth – Match Report – Match Photos

A Gregg Main penalty earned Nairn all three points as Lossie brought down the curtain on a difficult season with a narrow loss at a sunny Station Park.

PREVIOUS SIX LEAGUE GAMES AT STATION PARK…

26/08/2017 – Nairn County 6-2 Lossiemouth
29/10/2016 – Nairn County 2-1 Lossiemouth
15/08/2015 – Nairn County 4-1 Lossiemouth
08/11/2014 – Nairn County 5-2 Lossiemouth
24/08/2013 – Nairn County 2-1 Lossiemouth
04/05/2013 – Nairn County 4-1 Lossiemouth

LAST LEAGUE WIN AT STATION PARK…

16/02/2002 – Nairn County 0-1 Lossiemouth

Even further back than Lossie’s last win at Clach is their last league win at Nairn, which came just over nineteen years ago. Hopefully the win earlier this season will help spur the visitors on to a repeat this weekend.

TOP SCORERS…

Conor Gethins has found the net fifteen times across all competitions this season, including twice against Lossie, while Ciaran Young and Glenn Main have chipped in with seven and five goals respectively. Dean Stewart leads the way with 6 for Lossie, including four since the turn of the year.

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…

Sunburn, and hopefully donuts. Also, social media suggests Nairn recently invented the concept of a pie in a roll, so we’re eager to get a look at this example of haute cuisine.