Urquhart shines for Nairn against spirited Lossiemouth
SAM Urquhart was the star of the show as his four goals helped Nairn County surge to a 5-2 home victory against Lossiemouth in the Highland League at the weekend.
Lossie were boosted by the return of manager Charlie Charlesworth and his side certainly could not be faulted for effort and determination against their hosts, but attacking bite was mainly the asset of Les Fridge’s group of players.
Lossiemouth took the lead against the run of play when Shawn Scott scored a penalty after just 15 minutes.
Nairn battled back though and Martin Macdonald’s header ensured parity at half-time.
Urquhart scored his first and Nairn’s second on 52 minutes before Conor Gethins saw his penalty saved by goalkeeper Connor Hall.
Gethins lined up Urquhart for another just after the hour mark, but Willie Mathers’ goal saw the scoreline reduced to 3-2 with 15 minutes to go.
However, Urquhart all but killed the game off one minute later before a cool late finish sealed the victory for the Station Park side, who have now won eight of their 17 league matches.
Clach were in sizzling form at the weekend as the cruised to a 6-1 victory at Strathspey Thistle in the Highland League.
The performance was close to faultless and helped largely by goals within the opening 15 minutes from Jamie Doran and Blair Lawrie.
Daniel MacLellan netted the Markinchers’ third of the afternoon after half an hour before Mark McKernie gave the Jags a lifeline before the interval when he scored from the spot.
Gary Kerr killed the contest for the hosts though on 52 minutes and MacLellan’s 10 of the season made it 5-1 for Iain Polworth’s team. Martin Callum added further gloss to the result with 12 minutes to go.
Fort William were again left out of Highland League action at the weekend when their home clash with Cove Rangers on Saturday was postponed due to the West Highland downpours.
This call-off came just two weeks after the Claggan Park fixture against Rothes was also washed away.
Fort will return to action this Saturday when they travel to Buckie Thistle, who lost 1-0 at Huntly, who moved up to 15 place, leaving the West Highlanders in the dreaded wooden spoon position.
Gordon Connolly’s Wick Academy lead the way in the Highland League after their 3-1 away success at Forres Mechanics, while Turriff United are also on 43 points following their 2-1 home win against Steve Paterson’s Formartine United.
Unbeaten champions Brora Rangers remain well within range of the front-runners on the back of their 6-0 home romp against Rothes, fired largely by a treble from Steven Mackay, who has now netted a whopping 31 goals this season just a few days after Bonfire Night. Brora are just two points adrift of Wick and Turriff, but have three games in hand over both teams.
Elsewhere, Deveronvale won an eight-goal thriller 5-3 against visitors Keith, while it was goalless between Inverurie Locos and Fraserburgh.
