Moray welfare football: Single goal wins for Craigellachie, Thunderton and RAF Lossiemouth while Aberlour Villa and Hopeman keep pressure on leaders
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Tuesday night's Moray welfare league action saw four of the five matches produce tight scorelines.
Craigellachie came from behind to clock up their second win of the season and edge out visitors Cullen.
Consistency has been hard to find for Cullen this season and they fell behind on 16 minutes.
Recent Craigellachie signing Barry Grant headed into the Cullen box and James McPherson held off a defender and allowed the ball to run through to Jacob Imlach, who coolly slotted away his fifth goal of the season.
Back came Cullen, capitalising on a mix-up at the back for Elliot Findlay to score a 33rd minute leveller.
The visitors then grabbed the lead, Iain Mair netting a free kick from the edge of the box for his fourth of the season to give Cullen the half time edge.
Craigellachie refused to let their heads dropped and midway through the second half scored the goal of the game to make it 2-2. Aaron O'Hara unleashed a free kick into the top corner for his third goal of the campaign.
The home side went back in front from a low corner kick by Cameron Grant which zipped past everyone except Jordan Gray at the back post to tap-in what proved to be the winner.
The victory was also Craigellachie's first competitive success on home soil since entering the league a year ago.
RAF Lossiemouth made it nine wins out of nine for the season, including eight in the league to stay eight points clear at the top.
For the fourth time in their last five games, the airmen won by a single goal as top scorer Callum Devine's eighth of the season clinched all three points at battling Rothes A.
Friday's fixtures, Mike Simpson Memorial Trophy, quarter-finals (7.30):
Craigellachie v Lhanbryde United
Hopeman v Rothes A
Portsoy v FC Fochabers
RAF Lossiemouth v Cullen
Leading goalscorers:
-14 James McLaren (Hopeman)
-8 Jordi Mackie (Lhanbryde United), Ethan Blanchard (Cullen), Callum Devine (RAF Lossiemouth)
-6 Ryan Woods (RAF Lossiemouth), Kenzie Shepherd (Aberlour Villa), Chris Greene (Thunderton)
-5 Vinnie Ingleby (Portsoy), Cammy Newton (RAF Lossiemouth), Jacob Imlach (Craigellachie), Jamie Lees (Hopeman)
More Moray welfare round-ups:
Hopeman kept the pressure on the leaders, bouncing back from their first loss of the season to thrash hosts Lhanbryde United 9-2.
Lhanbryde started the game well but were stung on 23 minutes when James Turnbull fired Hopeman into the lead.
That goal opened the floodgates, as Gary Burr made it two and James McLaren produced a fine turn on the box before firing home a left foot effort to add number three.
Hopeman kept pushing and on 38 minutes, Jamie Lees, who struck the woodwork on several occasions in the game, deservedly headed home a goal of his own.
Lhanbryde opened their account before half time when Ryan Ritchie was played through and chipped the keeper.
Burr notched his second for Hopeman just after the break and Stewart McLaren joined his brother James on the scoresheet, before going on to net a quickfire hat-trick on 50, 52 and 59 minutes.
Tommy Henderson fired home a second United goal, but James McLaren netted his second of the game and 14th of the season to complete the scoring.
Thunderton have proved to be a thorn in champions FC Fochabers' side as they claimed a 1-0 win at Thornhill to add to a 1-1 draw at the start of the season.
In a tight first half both teams had chances with Kev Stewart hitting the bar with a well-placed shot for the Elgin homesters, while Fochabers were denied by a great save from Glen Fraser.
Thunderton took the lead early in the second half when Lorne McPherson laid on Chris Greene and his deflected shot found the top corner.
Both sides had chances after that, with Fochabers having a penalty claim rejected in the later stages, leading to player-manager Gary Burchell receiving the first red card of his career for dissent.
Aberlour Villa made it three wins in a row, though they were made to work for the three points by a visiting Portsoy side.
There were chances for both teams in the first half, the best falling to Aberlour's Kenzie Shepherd when he latched on to a loose ball on the edge of the box but scuffed his shot, allowing Portsoy keeper Lucus Farquhar to scramble back and push the ball away for a corner.
Farquhar pulled off another fine save at the start of the second half but he was finally beaten when Shepherd netted from a tight angle on 52 minutes.
Villa keeper Paul Robertson did well to keep out a netbound Portsoy free kick as the visitors chased an equaliser.
But it was the home side who scored the all-important second goal on 68 minutes through Ricky Henderson, and they held on for a 2-0 success.
