Lossie took all three points from an entertaining game against Rothes at Grant Park, with goals from Kevin Flett and Shawn Scott helping Lossie to the win. Flett and Martin McMullan were both sent off, as was Kevin Shortreed of Rothes, all in separate incidents.

Lossie started with nine of the previous weeks players, with Gary Macdonald taking the place of Dan Smith, while Nikki Smith replaced John Urquhart. Rothes went into the game on a high following their last minute success over Strathspey Thistle the previous weekend.

The sides took to the field on a cold, dark day in Lossie, with the raining slowly and constantly falling throughout the first half. Rothes took to the conditions better and had more of the ball in the opening stages. The visitors looked more up for it than their hosts, although Shawn Scott of Lossie had the first chance of the game, firing wide after a pass from Nikki Smith.

The opening goal came just after the half way point of the first half. A Nikki Smith shot at goal took a deflection into the air and as it came down, Kevin FLETT got his head to it ahead of Ridgers in the Rothes goal, who was left punching at thin air.

Lossie struggled to build on their lead and it looked for spells like the next goal would be an equaliser. Mike Smith was causing Lossie all manner of problems, first hitting the post with a header, before trying an acrobatic overhead kick that didn’t quite come off.

Half time – Lossiemouth 1 Rothes 0

The second half was only three minutes old when Rothes were reduced to ten men. Kevin Shortreed left his studs in a leg belonging to Sean McIntosh and the Rothes man was shown his second yellow.

As at Brora, the man advantage helped not a jot, and Rothes continued to menace the Lossie goal, hitting the bar and post in quick succession from corners. Donald Horsburgh came closest to a leveller, shooting from 18 yards and forcing Chris Stuart to palm the ball over the bar.

With time dragging on, Lossie slowly edged in front in terms of possession and began to threaten to add to their goal. A corner flashed straight across the face of goal, needing only a touch to knock it in, and Martin McMullan went on a run from the half way line, going past two men before shooting and striking the post.

Minutes later the teams were level, at least in terms of red cards, as Kevin Flett was shown a straight red card for an incident on the wing.

Lossie continued to press for a second, and Craig Donaldson saw a strike at goal well saved by Ridgers low at his near post. Shawn Scott had two chances from the edge of the goalmouth and blazed both over the bar before Nikki Smith missed the chance of the season, firing wide from inside the six yard box with the goal at his mercy.

As the game inched towards injury time, Lossie made sure of the points. Dan Smith and Sean McIntosh combined to play the ball forward to a suspiciously offside looking Shawn SCOTT, but the linesman kept the flag down as Biscuits ran on to finish coolly under Ridgers.

The drama wasn’t over, as Martin McMullan saw red in the dying seconds for a clumsy challenge, but time was up shortly after the card was shown.

Lossie head for Allan Park and a game against Cove with a bit of form under their belts, but disciplinary problems may see some changes to the side this weekend for the game against the champions.

Full time – Lossiemouth 2 Rothes 0

Teams

Lossiemouth - Chris Stuart: Steven Sim, Sam Milton, Craig Donaldson, Kevin Stuart, Martin McMullan, Sean McIntosh, Gary Macdonald, Shawn Scott, Nikki Smith, Kevin Flett
Rothes - Willie Ridgers: Ashley Grant, Donald Horsburgh, Ian Macrae, Lewis Duguid, Stuart Flett, Mark Dougal, Scott Robison, Mike Smith, Kris Duncan, Kevin Shortreed

Lossiemouth - John Urquhart (Nikki Smith, 76), Dan Smith (Gary Macdonald, 78), Tony Ross (Sean McIntosh, 87)
Rothes - Richard Forsyth (Mike Smith, 78)

Lossiemouth - Kevin Flett (70), Martin McMullan (88)
Rothes - Kevin Shortreed (47, second yellow)

Referee

Disagree?