Lossiemouth held on to beat Inverurie Locos 1-0 in an incident-packed match at Grant Park.
The kick-off was delayed for an hour after the Locos bus broke down en-route and they were derailed again when a Niall Kennedy penalty – only his second goal for the club – earned Lossie all three points.
Lossie interim manager Ian Campbell said: “We were well on top in the first half and created a few chances.
“The conditions helped us in the first half but we battled away in the second half and the boys showed so much courage and passion.
“Everyone in there is delighted. It’s only three points to most clubs but it’s a big three points for us.
“Our two centre halves were immense but you can’t single anyone out. There wouldn’t have been many people saying we would get the points, so we are delighted.”
Lossie were well on top in the first half and after a Ryan Farquhar free-kick took a slight deflection on its was past the upright the same player forced a save from Locos keeper Andy Reid.
The breakthrough came in the 33rd minute when Farquhar was fouled in the box by Mark Souter and Niall Kennedy made an expert job of the spot kick.
Locos rallied before the break and Lossie keeper Cammy Farquhar did well to keep out a Lloyd Robertson attempt.
With the elements in their favour in the second period Locos came more into it and the Lossie goal survived a major scare in the 78th minute when Locos sub Jamie Michie rattled a free kick off the juncture of the post and the bar.
Lossie were reduced to 10 men in the 84th minute when Jared Kennedy was penalised for a late challenge.
The numbers were evened up in stoppage time with the dismissal of Locos’ Robert Ward.
Inverurie manager Andy Low said: “I thought we started the game poorly. The weather was against us in the first half.
“We made some silly decisions playing in those conditions. We got reaction after they scored but not to the level I was happy with.
“We need to be more aggressive to make sure some of that chances are more clinical.”
He added: “I’ve got Jamie Watt here now and John Farquhar in the management team. We know what we can instil into this team in a period of time – I’m sure we will get it right.”
Fraserburgh 3-0 Huntly
Fraserburgh moved up to third as a Ryan Sargent brace and a further strike from Marc Lawrence sealed a 3-0 win over ten-men Huntly.
It was a third straight win and clean sheet for the Broch as manager Mark Cowie was keen to keep the good run of form going as he celebrated his 300th game in charge.
He said: “In the first half we were excellent and moved the ball about creating numerous chances and their keeper (Fraser Hobday) has pulled off a number of good saves.
“We’ve done a lot work with the team over the last three games and the play has been excellent and three clean sheets against top sides is always pleasing.”
Cowie was full of praise for Ryan Sargent who took his tally for the season to 12 goals.
He added: “Once you get a run of games your confidence grows and things go for you, we’ve had a problem with penalties of late and he’s stood up. He’s on a rich vein of form as are the front three lately.”
The Broch were awarded a penalty after 33 minutes when Hobday was adjudged to have taken down Paul Young. Sargent took the resulting spot kick, firing low inside the post.
In the 54th minute, Huntly were reduced to ten men when Lyall Booth picked up two cautions for an off the ball confrontation and a foul in the space of a minute.
With a man advantage, Fraserburgh doubled the lead in the 66th minute when Marc Lawrence turned in from close range after getting on a the end of a Paul Young delivery.
Fraserburgh made it three with minutes remaining as Sargent netted at the back post for his seventh goal in four games.
Huntly manager Allan Hale saw improvement in his side following an Aberdeenshire Shield exit to the same opposition ten days earlier.
He said: “It was a lot better from us compared to a week or ago in terms of our organisation and discipline, I just thought the one thing we were lacking was composure.
“The second goal was a real frustration, we’ve allowed the red card to affect us.
“Although I was disappointed with the goals we’ve given away I can’t fault the attitude of the players.”
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