Rothes boss Ross Jack admitted he was a frustrated spectator as his side edged past Lossiemouth.
The Speysiders secured their third Breedon Highland League win of the season by defeating the Coasters 1-0 at Mackessack Park.
Jack, usually a vocal presence on the touchline, was serving a dugout ban and was frustrated with the display from his side.
He said: “I hated it, sitting in the stand and trying to keep quiet, it’s not me.
“But Bobby Beckwith (assistant manager) and Derek Thomson (director of football) did a great job so maybe I’ll be redundant from now on!
“I thought we were second best for most of the game, except the scoring department.
“It was a poor performance, we looked disjointed and Lossie made it very hard for us.
“We’ve not performed great since the start of the season. We’ve had wins, but we need more in terms of performances.”
Rothes were also short of a goalkeeper, however, Jack was grateful that former Lossiemouth, Buckie Thistle, Turriff United and Formartine United custodian Kevin Main stepped in to play as a trialist.
He added: “We were short in the goalkeeping department because unfortunately Sean McCarthy, Iain Mackenzie and Charlie Christie were all missing.
“I was on the phone and thankfully my old mucker Kevin, who I know well from my time at Turriff, saved my bacon by helping us out.
“He was the best goalkeeper in the Highland League at one time and he was first-class for us keeping a clean sheet.”
Johnstone makes the difference
Lossie started well with Ross Morrison’s angled drive turned away by Main before the same player fired over from just inside the box.
Just after the half hour mark Rothes threatened when Greg Morrison swivelled and shot from 10 yards, but visiting goalkeeper Cameron Farquhar made an excellent block.
The custodian also held another Morrison strike and repelled Michael Finnis’ blast from 20 yards before the interval.
In the second period Brandon Hutcheson, Dean Stewart and Lewis McAndrew all worked Main with headers.
But the breakthrough arrived in the 71st minute for Rothes when Liam McDade’s inswinging corner from the right was nodded into the net by Ben Johnstone from six yards.
Five minutes later it could have been 2-0 when Jake Thomson’s pinpoint pass released Fraser Robertson on the right side of the area, but his shot drifted beyond the far post.
Lossie battled valiantly in the closing stages to try to find an equaliser.
Ross Paterson’s effort from the edge of the area whistled wide and a dangerous Fraser Forbes cross from the left evaded Stewart and Ryan Farquhar in the box.
Late on, Rothes sub Aidan Wilson rifled narrowly wide from 20 yards.
Coasters wait for win goes on
Lossie are still without a win this season and have scored six goals in their eight league fixtures.
The Coasters have signed attacker Henry Jordan from RAF Lossiemouth in a bid to sharpen up in the final third.
Manager Frank McGettrick said: “We’re disappointed, it’s a game where we could have had three points and definitely didn’t deserve to lose it.
“We didn’t look like losing a goal and then we did from a set piece.
“You don’t always get what you deserve, you have to score goals and we didn’t.
“I was happy with the performance, but we shouldn’t have been coming away with nothing.
“We tried a couple of different things to try to find something in the final third and we have to keep working hard on it in training.
“We’ve signed Henry, he’s got a nice touch and can do well in those areas so I’m happy to have him on board.”
