Inverurie Locos came from behind to defeat 10-man Fraserburgh 2-1 at Bellslea.
The Broch were forced to play for 75 minutes with 10 men after central defender Bryan Hay was sent off for handball but after taking the lead the home side ran out of steam and conceded two late goals.
It is a second league defeat of the season for champions Fraserburgh who sit six points behind leaders Brechin City after seven games.
Locos’ manager Richard Hastings said: “We certainly made hard work of it but it is a really good win for us as three points here are hard to come by.
“When Fraserburgh went down to 10 men we created a number of chances but we didn’t take them.
“The game was in the balance and then we were disappointed to find ourselves 1-0 down.
“But we didn’t give up and it was an incredible moment when that winning goal went in, despite the bad one that Logan Johnstone took.
“He looks in quite bad shape but it just goes to show the commitment from both him, and Marc Souter, to try to win the ball they were both going for.”
On the quarter hour mark the Broch were reduced to 10 men when Hay instinctively threw his hand up on the goal-line to stop a Fergus Alberts close-range effort from crossing the line.
Robert Ward took the resulting penalty kick but it was too close to home goalkeeper Joe Barbour who managed to get a strong hand to the ball to keep it out.
In the 58th minute Fraserburgh opened the scoring when Connor Wood broke down the right and squared the ball for Scott Barbour to side-foot home from six yards.
Locos pressed for the equaliser and with five minutes to go it came with centre half Marc Souter nodding the ball over the line at the back post.
In the second minute of stoppage-time Locos grabbed the winner with Alberts’ effort hitting the underside of the bar and, when Fraserburgh failed to clear, Jay Halliday fired the ball into the roof of the net from 10 yards.
Deep into stoppage-time Locos’ Logan Johnstone went down with blood streaming from a cut to his nose after an accidental collision with teammate Souter.
Broch boss Mark Cowie said: “I’m not disappointed at all. I’m more proud of the guys as I think we were the better team and I don’t think we deserved to lose.
“Inverurie were a threat with their long throws but we coped with it really well until the last five minutes.
“We played a cup semi-final on Wednesday night and 75 minutes today with 10 men so by the final whistle our legs had gone.”
Strathspey Thistle 0-5 Brechin City
Brechin City consolidated their position at the top of the Highland League table with an emphatic 5-0 victory over Strathspey Thistle at Seafield Park.
It was an impressive performance from the league leaders which delighted manager Andy Kirk.
“I’m really pleased with the players” he said.
“Strathspey work really hard and try to frustrate you but we created a number of decent opportunities and the final scoreline might have been even more emphatic if we’d picked better options with our final ball.
“However, I have to be happy with the overall performance and the result.
“We scored five goals, it’s another clean sheet and we’re still up there at the top of the table.
“I know that the players are capable of so much more so we have to keep challenging and pushing each other in order to get to the level I know we’re capable of.”
City grabbed the opening goal after just five minutes when Kevin McHattie fired home a glorious 25 yard drive and they doubled their lead just after the half-hour with Kieran Inglis converting from the penalty-spot after Jordan Northcott had been brought down in the box.
Inglis was on target again just a minute into the second-half when he converted his second spot-kick of the afternoon after Strathy Jags keeper Michael MacCallum had fouled Marc Scott.
The visitors kept pushing forward with substitute Ewan Loudon slotting home their fourth goal 20 minutes later and striker Grady McGrath completed the scoring eight minutes from time when he played a quick one-two with Fraser MacLeod before drilling home a right-foot drive.
🔛🔝 The updated Highland League table following yesterday's matches!
Next up for City is a home fixture against @WickAcademyFC next weekend. pic.twitter.com/VhyicquZj9
— Brechin City FC (@BrechinCityFC) September 4, 2022
Jags boss Charlie Brown said:” I thought that we were well beaten.
“Brechin are a great footballing side and their movement and passing was something we just couldn’t live with.
“We asked the boys to pick up midfield runners but unfortunately it just didn’t happen so I have no qualms about the final result.
“We have to hold our hands up after a bad day at the office.
“Brechin were deserved winners and we now just have to pick ourselves up and be ready for the match against Nairn County on Saturday.”
