Lossie welcomed Keith to Grant Park for the opening game of 2007, and made the Maroons work for their points as the visitors as they recorded a 2-0 victory. Scoreless at the half, Keith scored twice in the second half through Dean Donaldson and Jerry O’Driscoll, but there was a hint of controversy about both goals, leaving the Lossie players and support somewhat aggrieved.

Fine weather met the teams as they strolled onto the hallowed turf, but there was little in the way of incident in the opening quarter of an hour. The first real chance fell to Darren Still, but the veteran could only hit the rebound from his own free kick high over the bar.

Lossie were defending deep and allowing Keith to come at them, and only made rare forays into the opposition half. On one occasion Lossie did manage to escape to the other end and force successive corners, but the opportunity to create something was wasted by Middleton who scuffed the ball out over the bar.

Shortly after the half Lossie carved a real chance out of nothing. Swift attacking play saw Muir play a forward pass from the centre circle out left to Youngson who raced into the box and lashed a shot low into the keepers arms. Morrison was next to ask questions of the Keith goalkeeper, forcing Shearer into a fine stop low at his near post.

Keith came closest to opening the scoring before the half concluded when Dean Donaldson met a Darren Still corner only to see his header cleared from the line by a well-placed Steven Dixon.

Half time – Lossiemouth 0 Keith 0

Lossie had Masterton to thank for keeping them in the game early in the second half as he produced two fine saves, the second of which was a fine tip over the bar from a Wayne Mackay shot.

The visitors took the lead ten minutes in suspicious circumstances. Kevin Stuart looked all set to clear a low Dean Donaldson pass across the face of goal, but Stuart WALKER went through the centre half to ensure the ball found its way into the net. Despite the protestations of the Lossie players, the referee allowed the goal to stand.

Lossie huffed and puffed for the remainder of the half, chasing hard for an equaliser and throwing Kyle Stewart and Steven McIntosh into the mix to get a goal, but little was happening for the home side. The afternoon was summed up in one move when a Derek Nicol backpass found its way into the arms of Shearer. With the linesman furiously flagging for a foul, the referee waved play on and eventually told the linesman to put his flag down. A good question here would be what exactly is the point of assistant referees?

To make matters worse, Keith killed the game with five minutes to go when Jamie Lennox delivered a perfect cross to Jerry O’DRISCOLL who nodded home despite the best attempts of Masterton to keep it out.

Full time – Lossiemouth 0 Keith 2

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