Cans in control over bogey side

Forres Mechanics manager Charlie Rowley was delighted to beat local rivals Clachnacuddin at Mosset Park.

The Lilywhites had been something of a bogey team for the Can Cans in recent times, until Scott Lawrie’s strike just before half-time secured an eighth win in nine games for Forres.

However, Rowley was quick to stress that it was far from a perfect performance from his side.

Rowley said: “I thought it was quite a poor performance from us, it wasn’t a nice game to watch but obviously the most important thing today was getting the three points and we did that against a team that we haven’t beaten the last three times we have played them, so from that point of view I am thrilled with the win.

“Clachnacuddin were starting to come on really strong towards the end of the match and we were getting overrun a little bit in the middle of the park so we chose to put an extra man in midfield and only have one up front to try and stop them from getting any sort of momentum.

“We tried to nullify Clachnacuddin’s attacking options and I think we did that well. In the second half we had some great chances to finish the game off but we didn’t manage to take them so we were always going to be nervous in the last ten minutes.”

Rowley was also keen to dispel any concerns about the fitness of Graham Fraser who went down injured towards the end of the match.

Rowley added: “Graham is fine. He got a little knock after colliding with Stuart Knight but I have spoken to him in the dressing room and he don’t have any concerns.”

The home side flew out of the traps, creating a fantastic chance to break the deadlock only sixty seconds after kick-off. Can Cans’ attacker Scott Lawrie fired a challenging cross into the six-yard box from a right hand corner which the Clachnacuddin defence could only clear to the edge of the box.

In the first twenty minutes of the game, neither side was really able to take the game to their opposition with both sides just cancelling each other out as they were both unable to find any fluidity in their passing. Referee Ryan Milne was also kept busy during this period with both sides picking up a number of cautions as they were both determined to come out on top in this extremely hard-fought local derby.

Mechanics were nearly made to pay for their wastefulness in goal-scoring positions, because the away side almost found themselves ahead on twenty five minutes. Alan Pollock picked up the ball twenty five yards out and played a great ball down the inside right channel to winger Sean Ellis, who was just inside the box. Ellis then jinxed his way past one or two Forres defenders before striking a deflected shot from six yards out which rolled through Can Cans keeper Stuart Knight’s legs and nearly went over the line but Knight’s blushes were spared when he managed to pounce on the loose ball in the nick of time.

Twenty eight minutes on the clock and the home side opened the scoring. Forres were awarded a set-piece on the left wing twenty five yards from goal and Craig McGovern stepped up to whip a delightful cross into the six-yard box with his left foot. The superb delivery gave striker Kyle Scott an easy task and he lost his marker to powerfully head the ball home from five yards out.

On forty one minutes the away side found a way back into the game against the run of play. Alan Pollock collected the ball on the inside left channel nineteen yards from goal and he found team-mate Blair Lawrie out on the right wing with a great cross-field pass. The winger then beat his marker and dinked a perfect ball into the box for Sean Ellis to nod home into the bottom left hand corner of the net from close range.

The euphoria of the equaliser for Clachnacuddin was short-lived as Forres regained their advantage seconds after the restart in spectacular fashion. Forres’ Kris Duncan collected the ball on the right wing and fired a square ball to Scott Lawrie, who took one touch to get the ball out of his feet before unleashing a thunderbolt of a strike into the top left hand corner of the net from thirty five yards, leaving Jamie Fraser rooted to the spot.

Six minutes after the interval, Scott Lawrie tried and failed to grab his second of the game, before Graham Fraser came incredibly close to finishing the game off on fifty four minutes. A Scott Lawrie right wing corner found defender Fraser at the back post and his header towards goal from point-blank range would have gone in and doubled Forres’ advantage had Jamie Fraser not made another brilliant instintive save.

For a twenty minute period after the Graham Fraser chance, the game slowed down as both teams appeared to be tiring after what had been a very physical first fifty-five minutes. The ball was primarily bogged down in the middle of midfield and the ball retention of both sides was worsening.

Clachnacuddin battled extremely hard for an equaliser with ten minutes left but even though the Forres defence kept retreating further and further towards their own goal- allowing the Lilywhites more time and space on the ball- they still managed to hold on to a vital three points Forres are away to Nairn on Saturday (28th), then at home to Nairn the following week (4th)