Lossie were without Steven Sim, Darren McConnachie, Jamie Bagley, Nikki Smith and Dan Smith for the league cup semi-final warm-up, and drafted in Bradley Hardy and Craig Patullo from RAF Lossiemouth, trialist Brian Bell, while Liam Archibald started.

Despite an early headed attempt from Gary Macdonald, Lossie were to find themselves on the back foot for the entire first half. Nairn took advantage of confusion in the Lossie defence and camped in front of the visitors’ goal.

The assault on the Lossie goal commenced when Craig Campbell rattled a shot off the post, the ball bouncing back into the hands of Hardy. Nairn were a goal up minutes later when Steve Mackay set up the unmarked CAMPBELL for a side footed shot past Hardy.

Ten minutes later Nairn doubled their lead when Robbie DUNCANSON lashed home a knock down from Campbell.

Lossie were struggling to get the ball downfield and can consider themselves lucky the well paid Nairn players were short of shooting practice. Hardy must have wondered what he’d let himself in for as he got a good view of yellow shirts shaping to shoot in front of him, but ball after ball sailed over the bar.

Minutes before half time Nairn sealed the points with a third when Dale GILLESPIE fired the ball through a ruck of players. Liam Archibald came close to pulling one back before half time when he tried a lob over the bored looking Callum Donaldson, but the keeper amused himself with an overly athletic save.

Half time - Nairn County 3 Lossiemouth 0

Looking to claw their way back into the game, Lossie sent on Martin McMullan for Sean McIntosh to try and wrestle back some control in the middle of the park. Kevin Flett also appeared for the second half, but took up the position of goalkeeper after a game ending injury suffered by Hardy.

As it turned out, Flett was to be as much of a spectator in the second half as his opposite number was in the first. Lossie took the game by the scruff of the neck and Nairn proved incapable of coping with McMullan and the pace of Strathdee, Scott and Archibald, the latter trying a cross-cum-shot across goal which was saved by Donaldson at the back post.

Colin Charlesworth was proving a thorn in the side of Nairn, waltzing past three before squaring the ball into the box, but the retreating Nairn defence scrambled the ball clear.

Lossie pulled a goal back with quarter of an hour remaining. Stuart Strathdee strolled down the wing to the byeline before shooting from an acute angle. Donaldson could only fumble the shot away from goal and Shawn SCOTT was first to react, hammering the ball home from a few yards.

It could have been game on minutes later when Gary Macdonald saw his goal bound shot block by one of his own team mates. Lossie were completely running the game, and with Tony Ross on, the Coasters were enjoying the upper hand down both sides of the pitch.

Sadly, Lossie had left themselves too much to do and could not force a second, and a quick break by Nairn almost caused problems. Dale Gillespie made too much of a perfectly timed tackle in the box while looking to shoot, and the referee waved play on. It was to prove the last meaningful incident of the game, as Nairn brought proceedings to a conclusion with a succession of requests for treatment in a bid to slow up the game.

Full time - Nairn County 3 Lossiemouth 1

Teams

Lossiemouth - Bradley Hardy: Colin Charlesworth, JJ Urquhart, Kevin Stuart, Brian Bell, Gary Macdonald, Sean McIntosh, Craig Patullo, Shawn Scott, Stuart Strathdee, Liam Archibald
Nairn County - Callum Donaldson: David Hind, Martin MacDonald, Wayne Mackintosh, Willie Barron, Craig Campbell, Steven Mackay, Brian Macleod, Dale Gillespie, Robbie Duncanson, Glenn Main

Lossiemouth - Martin McMullan (Sean McIntosh, 46), Kevin Flett (Bradley Hardy, 46), Tony Ross (Craig Patullo, 77)
Nairn County - Tony Low (Willie Barron, 63), Gregg Main (Dale Gillespie, 86)

Lossiemouth - None
Nairn County - None

Referee

Disagree?