Brechin City moved up to fourth in the Breedon Highland League table with a 3-0 victory at Huntly.
Andy Kirk, the Brechin boss, was pleased his side’s start to the second period after they netted twice within ten minutes following the interval.
He said: “I’m delighted with the three points but I’m really happy we asked the players for a reaction following Wednesday night’s defeat (against Brora Rangers in the Highland League Cup).
“I told them it wasn’t good enough and they’ve given me a response.
“I thought we thoroughly deserved the win. Credit to Huntly they kept going, worked hard and made it difficult for us like we expected.
“It was a good time to score following difficult conditions in the first half having been against the wind.
“David Cox has been in and out the team and worked hard and it’s paid off with his two goals.
“We got the third goal late on and I would’ve been disappointed if we hadn’t put the third goals away based on where it was but Michael Paton has put himself in there to score.”
With three minutes gone, Huntly were denied by the woodwork.
Good work from Andrew Hunter saw the forward play in Greg Buchan but the midfielder’s low shot bounced off the foot of the post.
Huntly came close again after the half-hour mark when Buchan won the ball and played in Hunter who saw his low shot smothered by Iain Ross in the Brechin goal.
A minute later, Julian Wade went close for City only to be kept out by an Alexander Thoirs goal-line clearance.
Brechin went ahead 76 seconds into the second half when Cox turned home from close range following a low cross from Jamie Bain.
City doubled their advantage in the 56th minute with Bain again caused problems down the right flank and his delivery was headed in by Cox for his 12th of the season.
Brechin wrapped up the win with 10 minutes remaining with Michael Paton claiming his second of the season following a goalmouth scramble.
Huntly assistant manager Stefan Laird admitted it was a game of two halves for his side.
He said: “I’m bitterly disappointed, in the first half we were really good in difficult conditions and created enough chances to score a number of goals.
“We know how strong Brechin are but we more than matched that in the first half and coming in at 0-0 we looked strong.
“We spoke about things at half-time and unfortunately went out and did the opposite and the amount of individual errors we make is unacceptable.”
Deveronvale 1-1 Forres Mechanics
Deveronvale and Forres shared the points in a low key encounter at Princess Royal Park with both goals coming in a seven minute spell during the first half.
Vale opened the scoring after 27 minutes when Michael Watson’s determined play down the left saw him deliver a fine cross that Dane Ballard turned beyond Forres trialist keeper Ryan Hunter from 14 yards.
Mechanics levelled eight minutes later as Martin Groat’s ball to the back post picked out the unmarked Shaun Morrison who found the target via the post from close range.
Sean McIntosh did well to push a netbound shot from Morrison to safety early in the second half while Ballard had a couple of chances for Vale to claim the points later in the game.
Vale manager Craig Stewart said: “My players have worked hard in training and haven’t been getting themselves too disappointed about how things have been going.
“They know where we want to get to as a club and you have to remember this is a very young group of players.
“Jayden Goldie and Jaydan Bradford are both just 17 and neither looked out of place with Innes McKay and Rory Davidson helping them as they grew into the game to drive on and complete well against more experienced opposition.”
Full time at PRP and it ends 1-1. 🔴⚪️ pic.twitter.com/K7wb8FtjO2
— Deveronvale Football Club (@DeveronvaleFC) February 26, 2022
Forres manager Steve MacDonald felt a share of the points was the correct result.
He said: “We didn’t do enough to win the game as it was very scrappy and with the wind behind us in the first half we just played long balls down the pitch which their centre half thrived on.
“We started well in the second half and had a couple of good chances but then we dropped back into how we were in the first half so we take a point and move on but we did miss the physically and experience of the Fraser twins on the day.”
