Rothes had to come from behind to pick up their first win of the season with Greg Morrison the Speysiders’ hero with a superbly taken double.
Keith were at full strength for the game while injury-hit Rothes received a massive boost with the appearance of Steven Mackay who drove up to Kynoch Park having left work in Manchester at noon, while trialist Jack Maley made the somewhat shorter journey from Glasgow.
Nathan McKeown should have scored for Keith but with only Sean McCarthy to beat the Rothes number one blocked the striker’s effort.
On the half hour mark, Craig Reid did superbly well to stop a Jake Thomson effort from giving the Speysiders the lead.
Keith took the lead, against the run of play, in the 37th minute when Kieran Mooney picked up the ball on the left, cut in and beat McCarthy with a superb angled drive.
However, four minutes later the Speysiders were back on level terms when Keith failed to clear their lines and Morrison clipped the ball into the roof of the net from eight yards.
On the stroke of half-time new Rothes signing, Brazilian winger Matheus Machado, beat two Keith defenders before finding the corner of the net from eight yards out.
Five minutes after the restart a deep Machado cross picked out Morrison eight yards out and the former Ross County and Brora Rangers striker swivelled and hammered the ball into the far corner of the net.
Morrison was then denied his hat-trick when Reid turned a blistering shot over the top.
In the 73rd minute, Keith were awarded a penalty kick when Demilade Yunis was bundled over in the box by Bruce Milne and Przemyslaw Nawrocki sent McCarthy the wrong way from the spot.
Home comforts for Wick
Meanwhile, Wick Academy picked up their third home win on the spin with a 1-0 victory against Clach at Harmsworth Park.
Clach had defeated Wick 3-0 in the North of Scotland Cup earlier this month but it was Gary Manson’s men who came out on top on this occasion.
After a goal-less first half during which both sides had hit the woodwork, the home side made the breakthrough early in the second half with Harry Hennem finding the back of the net after 54 minutes.
The Scorries head to Strathspey Thistle on Saturday, while Clach take on Banks o’ Dee in Aberdeen.
Tonight’s teamlines are as follows. pic.twitter.com/oRVdUm6tmk
— Wick Academy FC (@WickAcademyFC) August 24, 2022