Fort William cut adrift at bottom of Highland League

FORT William sunk to a 3-1 loss against fellow strugglers Lossiemouth, leaving them rock bottom of the Highland League table, and four points adrift.

Lossiemouth opened the scoring early when a Ricky Wardrop header found the back of the net after just five minutes.

But when Tony Ross fouled Ryan Macdonald in the Lossiemouth box Darren Quigg converted a penalty to bring the scores level with less than 20 minutes to play.

With Fort William pushing forwards to try and get the win, they left themselves vulnerable on the break. A Fort William corner quickly turned into a Lossiemouth attack, and when Darren Duncan fluffed a clearance Ross Archibald finished.

Just two minutes later Archibald grabbed a second to condemn Fort William to defeat.

Clach have moved back to within striking distance of the top of the table with a 3-1 win against Rothes.

The Lilywhites took an early lead through Gordon Morrison, but struggled to turn possession into goals.

Sean Ellis, returning from a spell in Australia, was sent on for the closing stages of the match and inspired Clach to finish Rothes off.

First Ellis cut the ball back across goal for Chris Ross to finish at the back post. Ellis then helped himself to a goal when a Martin Callum shot fell to his feet.

Rothes got a consolation goal with their first proper effort of the match when Greg Simpson lobbed keeper John Campbell.

Clach are now four points behind leaders Cove with two games in hand.

Nairn County collapsed from 3-1 up to draw 3-3 with Inverurie Locos, and in doing so missed the chance to move to third in the table.

Inverurie opened the scoring after 41 minutes when Neil McLean, who played a part in all three Locos goals, hammered in a goal off the crossbar from 25 yards.

Wayne Mackintosh equalised quickly for Nairn with his own effort from 20 yards.

A Conor Gethins brace then gave Nairn what appeared to be an unassailable lead. First Andrew Neil cut back for Gethins to touch in from close range, then a David Watson pass split the Locos defence and Gethins slid the ball under the advancing keeper.

But just seconds later County let the Locos back into the game, when a McLean thrown in found Stuart McKay, whose deflected effort left Andy Low with a comfortable finish.

Then in the 88 minute McLean beat John Cameron, and his cross found Clark Bain who levelled the match.

Elsewhere Cove Rangers stayed top despite being held to a 1-1 draw at Buckie Thistle. Wick missed the chance to steal top spot when their game against Strathspey was postponed. The middle of the table remains tight, with eight positions separated by just three points. In the middle of the pack are Forres, who won away against Brora Rangers 1-0, whilst Fraserburgh are catching up after a 3-2 home win over Huntly.