Lossiemouth face Rothes for the second time in ten days tonight, with a home tie in the group stages North of Scotland Cup. Both sides had good weekends, each winning away from home in the Qualifying Cup, but the Rothes result impressed more, as they came away from Christie Park with a 1-0 win over Huntly. The draw for the next round paired the two sides together in the second round, which will be played on September 17^th.

Lossie travelled north to play Golspie Sutherland and came home the victors, winning 2-0 with goals from David Hendry and Craig Morrison. Soggy conditions and a stubborn home side caused Lossie problems at times, but Golspie failed to find the net, even when handed chances by their occasionally generous visitors.

Rothes claimed the biggest scalp of the first round of the Qualifying Cup, beating Huntly on their own turf by a solitary goal from Euan Grant. While it may have surprised the Strathbogie side, the improvement in Rothes from last season will come as no surprise to fans of Inverurie Locos, nor to anyone at Lossie. As mentioned, the sides have already met once this season, in a competitive game at Mackessack Park not so long ago. Lossie ran out 2-0 winners that afternoon, but Rothes more than matched the visitors for most of the game, with poor finishing from the home side allowing two late goals from Morrison and Moir to snatch the points late on. Surely the men in orange can't be as generous again?

Lossie are without any suspended players, so Jim Walker has to fit in some of the new signings around a side who have now gone unbeaten in three games, and haven't conceded a goal in 222 minutes of football.

As a warm up for the Qualifying Cup tie on the horizon, tonights game will give both managers a chance to get a look at the opposition from very close up, but new additions to the Lossie squad mean things could change before the sides meet in ‘The Big One’ in just over a fortnights time.

Lossiemouth receive a break from league duty this weekend, and head north for a rare encounter with Golspie Sutherland. This years tie in the first round of the Qualifying Cup offers the Coasters the chance to do a few miles on the road to Hampden, but Golspie enter the competition as an unknown quantity and could just as easily end Lossies dreams of a Hampden day out.

Lossie head into the game on the back of a victory against Rothes last weekend, but they left it late before wrapping things up. Goals in the last ten minutes from Craig Morrison and Lee Moir gave the visitors all three points, but had it not been for unfortunate finishing from Rothes and excellent goalkeeping from stand in Michael Rae, Rothes could have been out of sight by half time.

Last weekend, Golspie Sutherland won their opening fixture of the season 3-2 away to Bonar Bridge, in the North Caledonian League. They finished in third place in the league last season, behind Thurso and winners Alness United, and have won their league a total of four times, the last of which being the 1998-99 title.

Golspie have a long history in the Qualifying Cup, and are the only non-Highland League club with full SFA membership, allowing it entry into Scotlands premier cup competition. The northeners have recorded several wins over more prestigious opposition in the past, so Lossie will have to be on their game to avoid going out at the first hurdle. While the mid-1970’s were arguably the clubs most successful, Highland League sides have fallen in recent years. Nairn County were the first to suffer, in the 1974-75 season, losing a replay 2-1 at Station Park after a 2-2 draw in Golspie, before replay wins over Fraserburgh (1-0 at Bellslea of all places!) and Forres Mechanics, on penalties, in 1995 and 1998 respectively. Wick Academy were the next to fall, losing 6-5 in Golspie after a 2-2 draw at Harmsworth Park in the 1999-2000 competition. Another replayed game, this time against Rothes, remains the clubs last victory in the Qualifying Cup, although they claimed the scalp of Clach in the first round of the 2002-03 North of Scotland Cup, via the penalty shoot-out route. So. Nothing to worry about there then!

Last season, Lossie fell at this stage to Wick Academy, although it took a replay, extra time and 9 goals to finally split the sides at Grant Park after a last gasp 2-2 draw in Wick. Golspie had even less to cheer, however, suffering a 6-0 hammering to Buckie Thistle at home. Depressingly, the Coasters haven't won a game in the Qualifying Cup since the 9th of September 2000, when Nairn County were dispatched 2-1 at Grant Park. Lossie then faced Buckie Thistle and drew 0-0 at Grant Park before losing a penalty shoot-out 4-3 at Victoria Park. 

This weekends game offers Lossiemouth their best chance in many a year of making the next round, at which point they will be only 90 minutes from a place in the early rounds of the Scottish Cup, and at that stage only a handful of games from Hampden. A place in the final isn't too much to ask, is it?

- Season 2005-06 - This is the clubs first meeting this season
- Last time out - Rothes 0 Lossiemouth 2 ; Bonar Bridge 2 Golspie Sutherland 3
- Lossie last five away games - LW
- Golspies last five home games - still to play at home this season

Lossie make the trek south to Rothes this weekend, in what is considered to be the real start to the season for the Coasters. Three tough games have been and gone, and the following weeks present a more even task for Lossie. Or so it looked at the start of the season. This weekends opposition are the form team in the league, fresh from a win against Inverurie Locos, and have taken seven points from a possible nine, playing some excellent football.

Last weekend Lossie got their first point and goal of the season, although they left it late to snatch a draw against Fraserburgh. Craig Morrison scored with a header in the dying minutes at Grant Park to ensure Lossie moved off the foot of the table. The goal was well deserved, and Lossie might have taken more from the game had they not played for more than an hour without Gareth Smith, who was red carded for raising his hands. The remaining players put in a fine performance, however, and confidence within the squad will have grown.

Rothes pulled off the result of the season last weekend, with a 1-0 win away to Inverurie Locos. It was a bad week for the Harlaw club, who were beaten 6-1 earlier in the week by Buckie Thistle, also at home. Having won and drawn their first two games, the Speysiders are sitting amongst esteemed company at the top of the table, and will be looking for another three points.

Last season Lossie comfortably won both games between the sides, winning 4-1 at Grant Park in November, before coming from a goal down at half time to win 3-1 at Mackessack Park in March.

Lossie will be missing Gareth Smith through suspension after his sending off last weekend, and Lee Walker remains on the sidelines through injury. The biggest loss of all will be Steve Dunn, who is away on holiday. Other than that, Jim Walker has a full squad to pick from. Rothes have more to worry about, with manager Gordon Winton and his son Paul away on holiday. Steven Sim is also sunning himself elsewhere, while Chris Grant is on his honeymoon.

This is a big weekend for Lossie, and an away win would set the club up nicely for the next couple of games. Games at Mackessack Park are usually filled with goals, and this weekend should be no different.

The third weekend of the Scot-Ads Highland League season sees Lossiemouth return to home turf for this weekends game after last weeks outing to Banff. This weekends visitors to Grant Park are Fraserburgh, who have been regular victors over Lossiemouth in recent seasons, although not always without struggle.

Two games into the season and Lossie are rooted to the bottom of the table, with no goals scored and eight conceded. Losses suffered at the hands of Buckie Thistle and Deveronvale have left Lossie looking up at the rest, but both of those sides will go on to challenge for the title and no doubt inflict similar damage to sides further up the table. Lossie will look to a run of games against Rothes and Fort William either side of a trip to Golspie Sutherland as a chance to start picking up points and progress up the table.

Fraserburgh have enjoyed a more successful start to their league campaign, picking up maximum points from the opening trip to Brora Rangers, before drawing 2-2 at home to Inverurie Locos last weekend. Despite having lost Ian Murray, who rejoined Deveronvale in the summer, the Broch will remain a tough side to beat, and will be pushing for the title until the end of the season.

Last season at Grant Park, Fraserburgh ran out 5-2 winners after an entertaining game. Goals from Lee Moir and Martin McMullan for Lossie prevented Fraserburgh from running away with the game, although goals from Derek Milne, Ian Murray, Gavin Weymss and Russell McBride effectively finished the tie as a contest before McBride put away a last minute penalty. At Bellslea Park the game was more one-sided, with Fraserburgh strolling to a 5-0 victory on a cold January afternoon.

Lossie are free from suspension this weekend, with Martin McMullan returning to the squad after his one match ban, and have no injury worries. Fraserburgh will be sweating on Michael Stephen, who went off early last weekend against Locos.

This weekends game will be tough for Lossie, but with the squad continuing to blend together, perhaps the first points, point, or even just a goal could be on the cards. Fingers crossed!

- Season 2005/06 - This is the clubs first meeting this season 
- Season 2004/05 - At Grant Park - Lossie 2 Fraserburgh 5 (HFL); At Bellslea Park - Fraserburgh 5 Lossie 0
- Season 2003/04 - At Grant Park - Lossie 3 Fraserburgh 4 (HFL); At Bellslea Park - Fraserburgh 4 Lossie 0
- Last time out - Deveronvale 4 Lossiemouth 0 ; Fraserburgh 2 Inverurie Locos 2
- Lossies last five home games - L
- Fraserburghs last five away games - W
- Trivia - Broch manager Charlie Duncan played his first game for Fraserburgh in 1983 in a 4-1 win against Lossiemouth

The third annual Highland League Fans Tournament takes place this weekend in Lossiemouth at the Coulardbank Playing Fields, located next to Lossiemouth High School. Now one of the main events on the Highland League calendar, the MMPG-organised event brings together teams from across the north and north-east, with both male and female competitors taking part. The format remains as ever, with 7-a-side teams facing up to one another in the opening group stages, before progressing to the knock-out rounds for either the Super Quaich, or the Toilet Bowl. Entries are already in from Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Glasgow Rangers, and plenty more are expected.

Last years event was held in Cooper Park, Elgin, and the Lossie Fans Team made their debut appearance. The Coasters started their day with a fine 2-1 victory over Ross County, a result which looked a lot better at the end of the day, as the northerners went on to win the Toilet Bowl.. Two goals from George Thomson, one straight from a corner and the other a penalty, gave Lossie a comfortable lead, before a County goal late on made for a nervous finale. The next opposition were Huntly who posed a stiffer test, and eventually ran out 1-0 winners in a tense encounter. The highlight of the game, however, was a certain thrown in by a certain Huntly player which left everyone watching stunned. This result was followed up by another 1-0 reverse to Nairn County, before the big Moray derby – Lossiemouth v Elgin City!

The pressure was on Lossie now, as defeat would send them spinning into the Toilet Bowl, not to mention the fact the team would probably not be allowed back in the Social Club if they lost to the Skiters. The game itself was another nervy affair, with both sides evidently desperate not to lose. In the end, both sides were happy with a scoreless draw.

Due to the Huntly team firing the toys out of the pram and leaving early, Lossie progressed to the Super Quiach stages, and faced up to Rothes. A goal by Gary Pope gave Lossie a lead that was held until late on, only for Rothes to equalise. Extra time failed to produce more goals, and to penalties the game went. Thomson scored first, and Rothes followed up with a success. Unfortunately, a German-like level of penalty-taking accuracy from Rothes and three missed strikes in a row from Jimmy Shaker, Dougie Malcolm and Stuart Simpson ensured Lossie went no further in the competition, and could crack open the case of lager sitting cooling by the touchline.