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Locos extended their winning run to four matches with an impressive victory over Fraserburgh. After a blistering start by The Railwaymen, the visitors threw everything they had at them after the break but thanks to dogged defending and an inspired performance from Zack Ellis, they saw the game out to become the first team to defeat Fraserburgh this season.
Dean Donaldson picked the same eleven who had won at Strathspey at the weekend to take on a side who had not conceded a goal in their 6 previous games of the campaign. Within six minutes, Locos had put two past on-loan Aberdeen goalkeeper Rodrigo Vitols. Ethan Cairns opened the scoring in the third minute. Latching onto a Greig McNaughton ball down the left flank, he beat his man before slotting left-footed past Vitols. The visitors were struggling to cope with Locos’ pace and movement up front and Vitols was quickly off his line to thwart Cole Anderson, who had got in behind the defence.
The reprieve was short-lived though, as Cairns whipped the resulting corner into the six yard box and Milosz Ochmanksi flicked the ball into the net. Lloyd Robertson got his head to another corner but couldn’t keep it down as Locos threaten to run away with it. Gradually, The Broch worked their way into the game and Ellis made sharp saves to deny Scott Barbour and Greg Buchan, while Buchan also fired narrowly over the bar. At the other end, Locos were still causing problems and Cole Donaldson saw his snapshot come off the underside of the bar and land the wrong side of the line from his perspective.
It was inevitable that Mark Cowie would provoke a reaction from his players after the break, and it was immediately evident as they created a chance within seconds of the restart. They continued to create opportunities but found Locos resolute in defence and when they did get a shot on target, Ellis was equal to it.
Just as it seemed that Locos had weathered the storm, Fraserburgh halved the deficit through a familiar source. A corner from the left was cleared as far as Barbour and he fired home from 15 yards. The reaction of the Broch players and coaching staff made it clear that they now expected to get something from the game, such was their dominance in the second half. Ellis had other ideas though, and produced save after save, including jaw dropping efforts to deny Logan Watt and Ryan Sargent.
Ultimately, this was a fantastic advert for the Breedon Highland League; a game played at a blistering pace throughout with some real quality on display alongside great determination. The visitors certainly had enough chances to win the game in the second half but Locos could have been out sight within 30 minutes.
As it is, this will go down as a tremendous Locos victory and Dean Donaldson was proud of his players “It was an unbelievable game of Highland League football. It’s probaably the best game of football I’ve been involved with in a long time.” He continued “Fraserburgh pinned us back but defending is part of the game and I’m proud of them”. He will be hoping to feel a similar level of pride on Saturday when Locos travel to champions Brora Ranger for what is, on paper, the toughest assignment of the season.
