Inverurie Locos defeated Clachnacuddin 3-1 at Grant Street Park – despite a half-hour stoppage after Nathan Meres sustained a head injury.
Calum Dingwall’s 25-yard free-kick and Lloyd Robertson’s finish from the edge of the box had the Railwaymen two up at half-time.
After an hour, Meres was caught by Callum Black’s boot as both went for ball, with the game stopped before the winger was taken to Raigmore Hospital.
Greg Mitchell and Garry Wood then hit the crossbar before Robert Ward volleyed home Inverurie’s third.
Manager Richard Hastings said: “Nathan was knocked unconscious and there was initial concern it might be a neck injury, but he went to hospital and hopefully he should be OK.
Update on Nathan Meres…
Nathan is out of A&E with scans all clear but obvious concussion.
We would like to say a big thank you to both Physios, Referee Gordon Morrison, Stuart Gordon and Raigmore A&E Department for their assistance with this incident.
🚂 🔴⚽️⚫️ pic.twitter.com/iUrSv2CmyN
— InverurieLocoWorksFC (@InverurieLocos) July 23, 2022
“Everyone wants to get off to a winning start and we managed to do that.
“We showed good intent with our pressing, endeavour to win the ball back and then go and play.
“The only other thing was could have done was kept a clean sheet, but overall I was delighted with the boys’ efforts.”
Clach netted late on through Donald Morrison after Ben Cormack’s initial header was cleared off the line.
Boss Jordan MacDonald said: “It was a disappointing afternoon, we didn’t get to grips with Inverurie’s approach.
“We lost three soft goals and Inverurie could have scored more, they deserved to win the game.
“We hope Nathan Meres is OK after his head knock.”
Lossiemouth 1-3 Formartine United
Formartine United manager Stuart Anderson was pleased to start the season with a 3-1 victory against Lossiemouth.
The Pitmedden side made a fast start to claim the points at Grant Park and Anderson said: “It was really good.
“We could have been out of sight early on with the chances we had.
“Missed chances can come back to bite you and, when Lossie got their goal, they came back into it.
“We had to battle after that, but we’re delighted to get off the mark because Grant Park is a tough place to go.”
Mark Gallagher’s close-range finish on six minutes got the ball rolling for United, before Scott Lisle converted Aaron Norris’ cross midway through the first half.
Julian Wade netted from Tyler Mykyta’s pass on 37 minutes, but Lossie pulled a goal back soon after with the returning Martin Charlesworth rounding Ewen MacDonald to score.
Before the break, Ross Elliott hit the crossbar with a penalty which he’d won for Lossiemouth.
Coasters boss Joe Russell said: “We were poor defensively in the first half, which is disappointing because we’re normally pretty robust.
“The back four weren’t quite at the races, but we played far better in the second half and didn’t offer up many chances.”
Strathspey Thistle 0-4 Forres Mechanics
Forres Mechanics manager Steven MacDonald hailed hat-trick hero Callum Murray after their 4-0 opening day win against Strathspey Thistle.
Murray – a summer signing from Buckie Thistle – netted twice in the early stages at Seafield Park, first with a header from Andrew Skinner’s cross before dispatching a loose ball inside the area soon after.
Shortly before half-time, the Can-Cans lost Callum Johnston, who received a second yellow card from referee Gordon Seago.
But Murray was on target again early in the second half before Ben Barron netted three minutes from time.
Boss MacDonald said: “I’m very happy, Strathspey is always a difficult place to go and you never know what can happen on the first day of the season.
That feeling when you get a hat-trick on the first day of the season for your new club 😃⚽️⚽️⚽️
No wonder @callummurray2 is a very happy boy 👍🟡🟤💯⚽️#monthecans#thecancans #forresmechanics #scotland #scottishhighlands #football #soccer #scottishfootball #soccerlife #sport pic.twitter.com/tUGjYUrwNY
— ForresMechanics F.C. (@TheCansOfficial) July 23, 2022
“It was a thoroughly professional performance and we had to deal with a bit of adversity with the sending off, and also because we lost Robert Donaldson to concussion and Kane Davies had to come off at half-time due to a head knock.
“Callum had quite a long time out with injury, so he’s not quite at full fitness yet. So him getting a hat-trick was a real bonus.
“His finishing was really good and I’m delighted for him.”
Strathspey manager Charlie Brown said: “It was really disappointing, both the result and the performance. We struggled right from the start.”
