Moray welfare comeback blow for Lhanbryde

Lhanbryde United threw away a 4-1 lead in Moray welfare football's Premier Division match against Lossiemouth's Brander on Sunday.

United twice held a three-goal advantage but were forced to settle for a 4-4 draw at the end of an exciting match.

There was no indication that a high scoring match was about to unfold when the two teams fought out an even, goalless first half.

But home team Lhanbryde started getting their act together in the second half and were soon in control. Minutes after the restart Steven Ingram crossed for Graeme Ingram to head the opener from close range, before a 25 yard David Blackhall free kick found the top corner to make it 2-0.

A neat move helped Blackhall add a third, and although Stephen Mitchell nodded in to pull one back for the Lossie side, young Lhanbryde sub David Henderson scored his first for the club to restore the three-goal gap between the teams.

The home team had also missed some good chances to put the match out of sight, and pressed the self destruct button in the closing minutes of the match to allow Brander to fight back.

Mitchell punished sloppy defending to net his second and Jamie Bellingham set up a grandstand finish by scoring a third goal for the visitors. Time was running out, but Brander won a free kick in the dying minutes and Simon Lobban was on target to complete a great comeback for his team.

Rothes A have reached the halfway mark of the league season with their proud 100% Premier Division record still intact.

A 4-0 success over Portsoy on Sunday made it nine league wins out of nine, and fourteen straight victories in total for the rampant Speysiders.

Bishopmill Villa are also on red hot form with eight wins in a row in all competitions. They won 3-1 at Aberlour Villa on Sunday, preparing them well for this week’s crucial top-of-the-table clash with Rothes on Thursday night.

Tomintoul picked up their first away league success, a narrow 1-0 win at Burghead United.

And Moray Social beat Elgin Albion 4-2 in the third meeting between the teams in the past six weeks.

See Friday's Northern Scot for a full round-up and pictures of the week's Moray welfare action.