Allen Mackenzie celebrated signing a contract extension with a goal in Rothes’ win over Forres Mechanics.
The 32-year-old winger has penned a deal to stay with the Speysiders until the summer of 2026.
Mackenzie was also on target in the 2-1 victory against the Can-Cans at Mackessack Park.
Rothes manager Ross Jack said: “I’m delighted to have him around for another few years.
“Allen gives us width, he can play a number of positions as a full-back or a winger.
“He’s a good player to have in our squad. I can’t seem to get rid of him – I’ve had him at Elgin, I’ve had him at Turriff and now here, but he’s the type of player I really like.”
Saturday’s victory keeps Rothes seventh in the Breedon Highland League and moves them to within four points of sixth-placed Inverurie Locos with three games in hand.
Jack added: “It was a game of two halves: I thought we were good first half and terrible second half.
“Forres came out after half-time and put us under real pressure, we didn’t deal with it very well but I’m pleased to get the three points.
“We’ve got a wee bit of momentum and games in hand.
“We’ve got to look ahead and try to look above, hopefully we can pull them into the pack.”
Speysiders strike first
Rothes had the better of the first half and made the breakthrough in the ninth minute.
Allen Mackenzie’s long throw-in from the right wasn’t fully cleared by the Forres defence and Aidan Sopel gathered the loose ball and fired a shot from 14 yards into the bottom left corner.
The Can-Cans struggled to create openings in the first period. Dale Wood sent a shot over from long range and Craig Mackenzie had a free-kick held by goalkeeper Iain Mackenzie.
The Speysiders doubled their lead with 35 minutes on the clock when Allen Mackenzie curled a superb free-kick from 25 yards beyond goalkeeper Stuart Knight into the left corner.
Forres were much improved after the break and within three minutes of the restart Wood’s strike from 25 yards whistled just over.
In the 50th minute the woodwork denied the Can-Cans. Craig Mackenzie’s cross from the left broke for Jack Grant whose attempted finish from 12 yards cannoned back off the crossbar.
But on 52 minutes Forres did pull a goal back. Craig Mackenzie sent in a free-kick from the left flank, Lee Fraser glanced a header against the right post but Connall Ewan was on hand to knock home the rebound from close range.
The visitors were the team in the ascendancy but found it tough to create the chances which could have led to an equaliser.
In the closing stages the closest they came was through strikes from Ewan and Wood which were routine for goalkeeper Iain Mackenzie.
Frustration for Forres
Forres manager Steven MacDonald said: “First half we didn’t do enough.
“Being 2-0 down at half-time was really disappointing and we said we were still in the game, we just had to play much better because we didn’t turn up enough.
“We can do a lot better than that first half but you can’t just do it for 45 minutes in Highland League football.
“It seems week-in, week-out just now we’re getting a good half or a good spell, but it’s not enough.
“It’s no secret we’re showing inconsistency in games, we lost a goal after 40 seconds last week and it hurts you to do that against good teams.
“We’re a bit naive, a bit soft and a bit nice. Rothes enjoy those sort of conditions, Ross sets his team up well and they’re good at it.
“In the first half they had that bit more edge than we had to win the game which was disappointing.
“Second half we were a lot better, but it’s not enough to just turn up when you want.
“You need to be at it for 90 minutes in the Highland League and demanding more of each other.
“We keep saying about learning from it, but we can’t keep saying it we’ve got to do it because we’re not learning quickly enough.”
