Rampant Nairn stay top
NAIRN County stayed top of the Highland League after beating Deveronvale 4-2 away from home on Saturday.
New Peterhead boss Jim McInally was in the stands to watch the side his Blue Toon will face in the Scottish Cup later this month.
A storming start by the hosts saw Grant Noble fire them 1-0 up after three minutes, but danger man Conor Gethins was there to restore the balance seven minutes later.
Capitalising on Nairn pressure, Robbie Duncanson netted to ensure Nairn went into the break 2-1 to the good.
A shaky start to the second half from Nairn saw Chris Blackhall equalise for Vale, but Steven MacKay scored on the hour mark and with a penalty in the closing stages to secure three points for the visitors.
Elsewhere, Clach put in a five-star show to sweep to victory against eight-man Strathspey Thistle at Grant Street.
The Grantown Jags will be kicking themselves that, with the score only 1-0 to the Lilywhites with 20 minutes to go, they had Fraser Tulloch, goalkeeper Willie Ridgers and Joe Hardie all red-carded.
Clach steered in front after just 12 minutes through Sam Urquhart and only two great saves by home keeper David Harrison from Matteusz Bobrowski kept the visitors out.
Tulloch was sent off on 70 minutes for a second booking and moments later Ridgers conceded a penalty and he was booked for bringing down Urquhart in the box. The goalkeeper’s protests saw him yellow-carded again and he walked.
Urquhart blasted the spot-kick past sub keeper Andrew Klarkins before Joe Harkins was next to go for the Jags when he was booked for a second time.
Three subs then all completed the rout for the Inverness side.
Chris Ross added a third goal for Clach before a Gordon Morrison header and a Scott Chisholm strike finished off Strathspey.
Clach moved above Wick Academy, who sunk to a 3-1 home defeat against Fraserburgh.
Cove Rangers saw off visitors Rothes 4-0 to sit just one point behind Nairn, while Forres Mechanics were 2-0 home winners against Huntly to be placed third, just two points adrift of the leaders with two games in hand.
The surprise result of the afternoon was champions Buckie Thistle crashing 2-1 at home to Lossiemouth, while Formartine United joined the Jags on 17 points thanks to their 4-2 win against Keith.
Inverurie Locos are in fourth position after their 4-0 victory away to Brora Rangers.
At the foot of the table, Fort William pushed Turriff United all the way before going down 1-0 at Claggan Park.
