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Locos and Nairn County played out a thrilling draw on a wet afternoon at Harlaw Park. With kick of delayed following doubts over whether the game could go ahead, there was no looking back once the action got underway as both teams went for it with attackers on top throughout.
First blood went to Locos in the sixth minute. Robert Ward’s free kick from wide on the left wasn’t dealt with by the visitors and Josh Bolton slid home from close range. The visitors responded well and Andrew Greig fired against the post before Gary Pullen levelled, lifting the ball over Kyle Irvine.
Locos retook the lead with a fine goal half way through the first half. Jay Halliday collected the ball on the edge of his own box before finding Ethan Cairns, who in turn played the ball forward to Bolton. He squared to Halliday who fed Nathan Meres on the right and his low cross found Bolton at the back post to tap home.
Meres got on the scoresheet himself 4 minutes later, and it was another excellent goal. Bolton cushioned Irvine’s clearance to Cairns and he released Meres to finish calmly past Tom McHale. There had been little between the two teams but Locos looked to be in control at this point. Again Nairn reacted well to the setback and pulled a goal back just before the break. Paul Brindle latched on to a clearance before crossing to the far post when Finn As-Chainey was on hand to fire home.
Locos would certainly have preferred to take a two goal advantage into the break but the mood around Harlaw Park was positive at half time despite As-Chainey’s strike. That changed in the opening seven minutes of the second period when two Brindle strikes turned the game in the visitors’ favour. His first came when he met As-Chainey’s cross on the volley, the second was largely his own work, racing down the left before cutting into the penalty area and shooting across Irvine and inside the post.
The Wee County sensed an opportunity to take control of the game and enjoyed a strong spell. The Locos defence held firm though, and the Railwaymen worked their way back into the game, levelling with a little over 20 minutes remaining. Substitute Callum Duncan played a one-two with Meres before sending in a perfect cross for Cairns to head home.
Both teams went looking for a winner. Daniel Agnew and Duncan both shot over from promising positions and Calum Mackay fired wide at the other end. The final drama came when new loan arrival Oliver Green picked up two yellow cards having come off the bench to make his debut. The second came in the final moments and appeared particularly harsh on the Aberdeen youngster.
This game could have gone either way but ultimately a draw was probably a fair reflection of the game as both defences were given a torrid time in difficult conditions. Dean Donaldson felt this was Locos best display of the season in the attacking third and was reluctant to be too critical of his inexperienced defensive unit. “There was so many positives to take from the game” he said, “I think we need to be better defensively in certain moments, and we’ll keep working on that, but it’s a back four that hasn’t played a lot in the Highland League before this season, with the exception of Milosz.”
Locos will be looking to build on this result on Wednesday evening when Fraserburgh are the visitors to Harlaw Park.
