Highland League: Buckie Thistle, Forres Mechanics and Keith matches called-off and fixture congestion concerns grow

ANOTHER postponement has added to Buckie Thistle’s already-congested fixture list for the Highland League run-in.

The Jags were due to host Strathspey Thistle at Victoria Park tonight, but a waterlogged pitch has seen the fixture pushed to the sidelines.

Buckie have six matches to play before April 27, which is the date for the first leg of the Highland-Lowland League play-off.

At present, they are due to play every Saturday and Wednesday up until April 20.

This means that the Highland League will either have to have Buckie play two matches in one midweek, or have them play just a few days before the first leg of the play-off. The latter option may cause organisational dilemmas.

With matches in Keith and Forres also postponed due to the weather, there will be football in Moray tonight.

Keith were due to welcome Buckie’s title rivals Brechin City to Kynoch Park, but the pitch has been deemed unplayable.

Brechin have four games that will need to be played by April 27, including the Keith clash.

Forres Mechanics’ home match against Wick Academy has also failed a pitch inspection and will likely be replayed on a Wednesday night in April.

There is more leeway for Forres and Wick’s match, with the fixture having no impact on the outcome of the Highland League title.

In fact, Wick, who still have six games to play, are already due to play Highland League fixtures on April 27 and May 4, which clash with the promotion play-off dates.

The one remaining fixture tonight is Brora Rangers against Deveronvale.

Brora’s Dudgeon Park also failed a pitch inspection, but the game has been moved to Golspie Sutherland’s King George V Park to alleviate fixture congestion.

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