A superbly taken double from winger Ross Gunn and a brilliant Greg Morrison strike saw Rothes leapfrog Inverurie Locos into sixth place in the Highland League table.
The game was hastily moved to Grant Park in Lossiemouth after a waterlogged Mackessack Park failed a lunch-time inspection.
In the fourth minute Locos central midfielder Calum Dingwall tested Sean McCarthy in the home goal with a speculative 35-yard free-kick.
Four minutes later the visitors almost opened the scoring but skipper Neil McLean’s superb curling free-kick from just outside the box shaved the post.
Referee Kevin Buchanan incurred the wrath of both sets of supporters by issuing four yellow cards in the first half hour.
Rothes 3-1 Inverurie Locos
A double from Ross Gunn and a Greg Morrison goal earn the 3 points 🍊🟠⚫️ #MonTheSpeysiders pic.twitter.com/vvQOwDcPMp— Rothes FC (@RothesFC) April 13, 2022
In the 31st minute Rothes took the lead against the run of play when Ross Gunn capitalised on a mix-up in the Locos’ defence to beat Andy Reid with a 15-yard grounder into the far corner of the net.
In the 40th minute Fraser Robertson forced Reid into a fine diving stop as the Speysiders went looking for a second goal before the break, and from the resulting corner kick the visiting keeper spread himself well to smother Ryan McRitchie’s header.
In the 58th minute Rothes doubled their advantage when Gunn notched his second goal of the night with a brilliant 25-yard free-kick which flew into the roof of the net with a help of a slight deflection off a Locos defender.
With 16 minutes to go Greg Morrison raced clear of two Locos defenders and beat Reid with a brilliant 15-yard angled drive.
Two minutes into stoppage-time Locos pulled one back when Keiran Shanks netted from the penalty spot after he had been upended in the box.
Huntly 0-1 Formartine United
Despite finishing with 10 men, Formartine United kept up their unbeaten league record under Stuart Anderson, with a solitary Tyler Mykyta goal giving his side the win over Huntly at Christie Park.
The visitors went close early on with a free header from Ryan Spink going wide of the post after three minutes.
Euan Storrier kept out a header from Graeme Rodger midway through the half.
Three minutes later, Huntly’s Michael Dangana played in Logan Johnstone on the left and his cross was met by Ryan Sewell, who shot wide from close range.
A good stop from home keeper Storrier then denied Formartine’s Kieran Lawrence a certain goal as he got down to smother a low drive.
GOAL 0-1 Tyler Mykyta 36 mins pic.twitter.com/YDlLFzYwCi
— Formartine United FC (@FormartineUtd) April 13, 2022
United took the lead in the 36th minute, though, when Mykyta got in behind the visiting defence and chipped the advancing Storrier for his ninth of the season.
Five minutes into the second half, United were reduced to 10 men when Lawrence was shown a straight red card for a rash challenge on Jack MacIver.
Huntly came close seven minutes later when a glancing header by Brodie Allen was held by Ewan MacDonald.
A long throw from Johnstone was headed on by Fergus Alberts to Kyle Dalling in the 84th minute. Dalling laid off for Greg Buchan, but his shot was cleared off the line as Huntly pushed for a leveller.
A minute later, a Buchan free-kick was met by Dalling, but his shot was kept out by MacDonald before the keeper got down to deny Alberts from the rebound.
