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Locos fell to defeat against defending Breedon Highland League Champions Brora Rangers at Harlaw Park. The Railwaymen were well beaten in the end but were very competitive in the first half and still very much in the game until Jordan Macrae netted the visitors’ second goal just after the hour mark.
Jay Halliday returned from suspension and Nathan Meres also came into the starting lineup. Both teams looked to attack in the opening stages. Meres couldn’t quite get on the end of an early Lloyd Robertson through ball before the visitors made the breakthrough in the 14th minute. Paul Coutts was adjudged to have fouled Tom Kelly and Alex Cooper curled a left-footed free kick just inside the post. The game continued to flow. Josh Buchan tried his luck from the edge of the box and Daniel Agnew’s effort was deflected over the bar. Cammy Mackay then beat away Taylor Chapman’s header from the resulting corner. At the other end Tony Dingwall couldn’t get enough power in his shot when well placed and Kyle Irvine dived to his left to keep out another Brora free kick, this time from Macrae.
Dingwall fired wide early in the second half and Mackay did well to claim Agnew’s dangerous ball into the six yard box. Locos couldn’t get the forward momentum they had enjoyed before the break though, and the second goal effectively sealed the points for the visitors. Macrae appeared to mis-time his header from Dingwall’s delivery but the ball struck his shoulder, wrong-footing Irvine.
Locos tried to hit back. An excellent run from Mark Souter was stopped abruptly by a Ross Draper lunge just outside the penalty area but to everyone’s bemusement, the referee instead awarded a free kick the other way, booking Souter. The Railwaymen were struggling to ask questions of Mackay though, while Irvine was getting busier as the game went on, keeping out a Draper header from close range before Cooper added the third with a smart finish from the corner of the six yard box.
In the first half in particular, this was a decent performance from Locos but the lack of execution in the final third meant it was always going to be tough against a team once again harbouring title hopes. Visiting Manager Steven Mackay acknowledged that Locos made it difficult for his side. Dean Donaldson was happy with the display before the break but disappointed by the goals conceded. “I thought we were excellent in the first half but we came in one-nil down.” he said “In the second half we changed shape and I thought we did OK, but we didn’t turn them enough.”
Locos must now regroup to go again next week as the year draws to a close at Forres Mechanics.
