Moray welfare football: Portsoy win, Callum Devine hat-trick helps RAF Lossiemouth move eight points clear after ending Hopeman's unbeaten start
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RAF Lossiemouth defeated Hopeman 5-1 in Friday night's Moray welfare top-of-the-table clash.
The servicemen are now eight points clear, having played a game more than Hopeman, as Callum Devine's hat-trick helped sink the visitors.
Both sides went into the match undefeated but it was Lossie who quickly got into their stride and took the lead on five minutes. Devine latched on to a great through ball from Henry Jordan before firing home.
Play was evenly contested for a spell but when the Hopeman keeper made a great save from Ethan Frost, the ball bounced out to Harry Williams and he cut back for Devine to grab his second of the game.
It was 2-0 at the break and RAF Lossie didn't take long into the second half to add to their lead as Jordan clipped a lovely ball through for Reece Archer to bullet the ball home.
Devine went looking for his third goal of the game but after rounding the keeper he could only shoot into the side netting.
A fourth Lossie goal wasn't far away and Devine did get his treble, latching on to a big kick from keeper Tristan Fahey before lobbing into the net to make it 4-0.
The lively Devine was then fouled in the box for a penalty which Ryan Woods converted to stretch the lead to five.
Hopeman's James McLaren netted a late consolation but there was no denying the home side's superiority on the night.
Goals were hard to come by at Portsoy where Thunderton were the visitors in a match switched from Elgin to the coast.
Neither side could find the net in the first half with Thunderton coming closest with an effort narrowly off target from the last kick of the half.
The scoring breakthrough arrived in the second half with a stroke of luck for Portsoy, as a free kick from deep was swung in by home skipper Haydn Mottram and it slipped through the Thunderton keeper's legs and went in.
It proved to be the only goal of the game. Thunderton pushed hard for an equaliser but finished the game with ten men due to injury.
Champions FC Fochabers were held to a 3-3 draw by Cullen.
An attempted cross by Fochabers' Ben Stewart sailed into the net for a fortunate home opener on ten minutes.
But when Fochabers misjudged the flight of the ball in a Cullen attack, Jae Marandola advanced to net an equalising goal.
Back came the home side to regain their lead from close range through Warren Orford.
Cullen's top scorer Ethan Blanchard converted a defence-splitting pass to make it 2-2, and the visitors took the lead for the first time from a penalty slotted home by Blanchard - his eighth goal of the season.
Orford had the last say, tapping in from a corner to earn his team a point.
