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Locos came through a tough game at Station Park to extend their winning run to seven matches. In a game lacking goal mouth action, a Paul Coutts strike after his penalty had been saved was enough to see off a Nairn side who played for more than an hour with ten men.
With Milosz Ochmanski missing through illness and Greg Mitchell ruled out for the rest of the season, there was an unfamiliar look to Locos with Callum Duncan and Blair Smith playing as wing backs. Cole Anderson and Jay Halliday returned to the starting line up, having come off the bench for the second half against Rothes last week.
After Sam Gordon had gone close for County, Locos were awarded a penalty in the 16th minute when Mark Souter was pushed in the back as he looked to get on the end of Coutts’ corner. Dylan Maclean made a good save from the spot kick but Coutts reacted quickest to prod home.
As the Railwaymen looked to press home their advantage, Nairn were dealt a second blow with the dismissal of Gordon midway through the first half. Having picked up a needless yellow card for kicking the ball off the spot as Coutts’ prepared the take the penalty, Gordon caught Smith with a lunging tackle and was inevitably shown a second yellow card.
Unsurprisingly, Locos began to dominate, although clear chances were hard to come by as the hosts dug in. Anderson was off target after his header had been well saved by Maclean.
After the break, Locos continued to have the better of the play, getting into good positions on several occasions but unable to add to the score. Smith volleyed over the bar and substitute Aidan Wilson fired into the side netting but the second goal, that would surely have killed the game off, wouldn’t come.
While the advantage stayed at just one goal, Nairn were never out of the game, and looked dangerous on the break. With 20 minutes remaining, Scott Lisle tried to capitalise on an error but sliced his shot well off target and in truth Zack Ellis had little to do as he secured a twelfth clean sheet of the season.
This was not a great spectacle, and was probably not helped in that by the early red card. Dean Donaldson was frustrated that his side couldn’t push home their advantage but will be delighted with another 3 points.
