Forres Mechanics made the short trip to Buckie Thistle on Wednesday 7th October looking to close the gap between the two teams in the league on what was a very wet and miserable night – weather wise anyway.
Buckie must have forgotten who they were playing that night as the team lines issued listed the Forres players under a team badge that belongs to Huntly FC, this brought a few smiles to the travelling fans.
Buckie went ahead early when Dennis Wyness fired home from just inside the box after Forres keeper Stuart Knight came out for a through ball but changed his mind halfway and when the ball was passed inside, it was easy for Wyness to fire into the empty net, the writing looked like being on the wall as Buckie dominated the play thereafter.
However Forres then adapted to the wet conditions better and began to overwhelm the Buckie midfield and defence with some telling long passes. Two quick goals from Craig McGovern and Ross MacPherson put us in easy street as Buckie’s defence just couldn’t deal with the strength and directness of our play. We looked as though we would score with every attack but had to wait till almost halftime before we got our third goal courtesy of a fine strike from Stuart Sone.
The second half continued in the same fashion as the first had ended with Forres dominating possession with both McGovern and MacPherson bossing the game easily. The former getting his second on the night with a well placed header from a Simon Allan corner, he then broke away looking for his hat-trick but saw his effort come back off the post – thankfully straight to the feet of Lee Fraser who coolly slotted home to make it 5-1.
Then came the moments of madness from the Forres players, first Dachi Khutsishvili got himself needlessly booked for constantly nipping the head of referee Dan McFarlane, who I thought had a pretty good game considering the conditions, for a decision that didn’t go his way, just like a kid throwing his toys out of the pram. Then Gordon Finlayson was shown a red card for a challenge that really only the stand-side linesman saw and brought to the attention of the referee.
Buckie made their extra man advantage count when Stuart Taylor pulled one back but it was too little too late for them as in the final minute Ross MacPherson managed to break away leaving the Buckie defence trailing in his wake to fire home a sixth goal, bringing huge cheers from the travelling fans which I’m sure must have been heard back in Forres itself.
On Saturday 10th October, Forres entertained what has become our bogey team in recent years at Mosset Park, Keith FC, hoping to continue our recent good run of results.
We got off to a flier when Liam Baxter scored in only the second minute from a tight angle, but I personally missed that goal as I was on programme selling duties.
However I did see Dachi Khutsishvili score after eleven minutes, firing home a loose ball that wasn’t cleared from a Simon Allan corner.
We continued to dominate the first half but couldn’t put away any of the chances that came our way, so went in at half-time 2-0 up.
Keith came out and outplayed us in the second half and although they had more of the possession of the ball they really didn’t trouble the Forres goal. We created a few chances ourselves but again couldn’t add to the score line – 2-0 the final score.
Another welcome three points which takes us up to sixth in the Highland League.
The silly head appeared again though as this time Liam Baxter talked himself into a booking for a decision he didn’t agree with, these bookings will eventually catch up on us with much needless suspensions at a time when I’m sure we will need every player available for tougher games to come.
On a positive note we recently acquired Chris Blackett (on loan) until the end of the year from Inverness Caledonian Thistle, the young forward I’m sure will benefit greatly from some much needed first team games, he certainly has got the ability to challenge our front two for a starting chance and definitely has got the skills to play at a higher level.
Next up is a trip away to champions Brora Rangers on Saturday 17th October, a much tougher task, although they haven’t been the force this year as in previous years, I’m sure Charlie and the boys would gladly take a draw if we could manage that – here’s hoping.