Highland League Weekly: 'Maverick' helps Lossie beat Forres in Moray derby, while Aberdeen loanees star for Huntly, Keith

Aye, well, that was where I was on Saturday, and in the end, it was a very good win for the Coasters.

And, you know, it's, it's a game of, you mentioned, it was a Moray derby.

In recent fixtures have been, you know, there's been a wee bit of sort of needle to them, and Saturday was, uh, similar again.

And I mean, Aidan Crook, you know, a tale as old as time in football really, as me and Thirdy were discussing before we started.

But Aidan Crookshank sort of enjoyed himself against his old club, scoring a couple of goals, and he had a sort of hand in the build-up to the third as well, in, in their 3-1 win.

And, aye, he f- I think certainly the first one, it was fair to say he enjoyed celebrating that in front of the sort of Mosset Park faithful after leaving Forres to go to Lossie in the summer.

And overall, I think aside from sort of him enjoying himself on Saturday, he's really sort of found a vein of form since he's gone to the Coasters that maybe he's been striving for at various clubs over the last sort of two or three years really.

But he's, he's kind of hit the ground running since he went to Grantpark.

He's scored seven goals now in all competitions.

And I mean, Kevin Flett sort of, I thought summed him up quite well after the game in terms of saying, you know, he's a bit of a sort of maverick-type player and maybe, you know, does things sort of more off the cuff and maybe isn't in, doesn't necessarily maybe always follow the instructions for the wider team.

But the bottom line is, he's got that sort of bit of individual quality about him that can turn a game, and he obviously had a big part, part in Saturday's victory with his contribution.

I think for Lossie, it's quite pleasing for them as well to sort of get back to what they've been doing well after maybe the last two or three league games where they've been beaten, and having to sort of show in their be- best side to play as well as they did on Saturday and get through in the cup was very satisfying for them.

And I think, like I was mentioning Aidan Crookshank, but with like the sort of physicality, and the work rate, and the pace of Brodie Allan and Bailey Campbell combined with Aidan Crookshank in a front three, when they play like they did on Saturday, I think they're a, a right handful for, for any team on their day potentially.

And for Forres, I think they're d- I mean, Steve McDonald, I think all season almost feels like he's been sort of bemoaning sort of losing quite soft goals-

Yeah

... and bemoaning sort of defensive issues, and that was pro- sort of the case on Saturday.

I mean, the second goal particularly that they lost was a, a bit of a mix-up, and it was, proved costly.

And put, doesn't really help them at the moment either as they're a bit short of options at the back as well.

Thomas Brem, center half especially, Thomas Bremner's injured.

Ewan Neil, who scored their equalizer on Saturday, came off injured.

They've signed Jamie Calder on loan from Strathspey, but you know, he hasn't played a lot of football this season, so whether he needs, you know, a couple of weeks to get up to speed, we'll see.

But they'll be hoping he can have an impact.

And I think aside from the def- defensive part of the game, Forres had, had a really good spell sort of start of the second half, but they, for the pressure, they maybe, at 2-1 down, for the pressure they had in the areas they got into, they probably would reflect and feel they didn't maybe create enough clear-cut chances or work Aaron Anderson in the Lossie goal enough, and that was, um, disappointing for them.

But I think the couple of maybe bright spots for them, I thought a couple of their, uh, young players that have gone loan from Cali, Thistle, Sam Reid and Kenzie Hartness, I thought they both showed, um, encouraging signs.

And I know they've b- played a fair bit of football since they went there, so they'll m- maybe, um, keep progressing in the weeks ahead with the