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It was another chastening afternoon for Locos as they succumbed to heavy defeat against Fraserburgh. The Broch got themselves ahead early from the penalty spot, adding two more goals within 6 minutes to put the game beyond Locos reach. Two late goals took away any consolation the Railwaymen might have taken from an improved defensive performance in the second half.
After losing at Turriff on the opening day, this was never going to be easy for Locos but they started the game brightly moving the ball around the pitch at pace and with purpose. However, the visitors took the lead with their first foray forward on 6 minutes. Ryan Sargent was fed into the area where he turned sharply before being caught by Glen Donald. Sargent picked himself up to fire past Andy Reid from the spot.
After Ross Aitken had done well to block a goalbound Sam Robertson shot, Scott Barbour double Fraserburgh’s lead, apply the finish touch to a ball played in from the left. Just as at the Haughs, a quick fire double well and truly knocked the wind out of Locos sails and the was were to come just a minute later. This time the ball was delivered low from the right and Sean Butcher found the net off the inside of the near post.
At this point it looked as though every attack by the visitors might lead to a goal, while at the other end Locos were struggling to test Joe Barbour, Donald and Jamie Michie both firing over. Barbour was called into action to keep Kieran Simpson’s miscued clearance out. After the flurry of goals, the game settled down a bit with Andy Low switching around his defence which had a slightly makeshift nature to it with Mark Souter unavailable.
In the final 10 minutes of the half, Fraserburgh again applied the pressure, Butcher netting his second from the edge of the box and Calum Dingwall slicing a Scott Barbour corner into his own goal a few minutes before the break. Barbour had also poked narrowly wide of target inbetween those goals, latching onto a ball over the top.
The second half could only be an improvement for Locos and, while they were still offering little threat to Joe Barbour’s goal, they did tighten up at the back with the Broch largely restricted to efforts from distance. Fraserburgh rubbed salt into the wounds though with a couple of late goals. Substitute Connor Wood rifling a shot into the roof of the net after Locos had blocked a couple of efforts before getting a second with a powerful finish beyond Reid with the last kick of the game.
There’s no disguising the fact that this was a performance well short of what is required against a side as strong as Fraserburgh who were clinical in the early stages to secure the points in the opening 12 minutes, and were a constant threat with their pace and movement. For Locos the work continues to find the formula to tighten up at the back while posing a greater goal threat at the other end and Andy Low will no doubt be hoping for more options next week against Huntly in the Highland League Cup.
