Inverurie Locos cemented their second spot in the Highland League with a hard-fought win at Kynoch Park in a game that was played in a strong, swirling wind.
The visitors came from behind to nab the points against a plucky Keith side that fought tooth-and-nail.
It is four years since Keith beat Locos, but they made a go of it in the first half with the strong wind at their backs.
They nabbed the only goal of the first period four minutes from the break following an inswinging corner, Michael Selfridge pouncing to ram home his seventh goal of the season.
The Maroons started the second half in bright fashion against the wind and Cammy Keith, Scott Gray and Selfridge all had opportunities to increase the lead, the latter in particular heading wide from a perfect scoring position.
As Locos began to come more into the game, David Dey pulled off a great save to keep out Andy Hunter’s wind-assisted free kick. But in 63 minutes Dey was beaten when Ryan Stott clipped home the Locos leveller.
Dey was to the fore again, superbly blocking Stott at his right-hand post.
Within two minutes, the visitors grabbed the lead, Hunter scrambling the ball home from close range.
In the dying seconds, Chris Angus put the seal on the hard-fought win, heading home his 27th goal of the season from six yards.
Locos manager Andy Low said: “I felt we deserved the win, we had the better chances. I thought it was a game of two halves.
“I was happy enough with the first half, although we felt unfortunate to go in at half-time a goal down.
“We bossed the game after the first 10 minutes of the second half and we grew in confidence.
“It was one of those games that wasn’t pretty, but we dealt well with the conditions. It was an all-round good display, but Neil McLean in particular had a great game.”
Keith manager Dean Donaldson said: “We more than matched them and in the second half we were the better side.
“We knew it would be difficult against the wind. We were naive in the first half with the wind at our backs. On another day we would have won but I thought Jack Grant was outstanding.”
