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AFTER a disappointing start to their Highland League season with a defeat at Formartine United, Nairn County bounced back with an emphatic win over a young Elgin City side in the North of Scotland Cup in midweek to progress to the quarter finals of the competition. They now go to Deveronvale looking to rack up their first points of the season against the side who ended up second in the league table shake up following the opening round of fixtures. The Banffers hammered Lossiemouth 7-0 at Princess Royal Park last weekend to start their season in fine style. It means tomorrow’s match pits two sides who go into the meeting off the back of heavy wins in their last competitive outing with Nairn having put eight unanswered goals in the Elgin net at Station Park on Wednesday night. Steve Dolan’s men enjoyed a superb season last time out, edging Nairn out to finish seventh in the final standings to make a marked improvement on their return the previous year. That is testament to Dolan’s approach and philosophy as the former full back has completely rebuilt the squad at Princess Royal Park, stripping it back to basics and blooding several youngsters with the rewards of that now fully evident. He has now been able to sprinkle some more experienced bodies into the pool and he will be demanding a push for the top six during this campaign as ‘Vale look to push on again. If you are unable to make it along to Princess Royal Park for this match then you can follow all the action on the official Nairn County social media channels. Simply logon to facebook.com/nairncountyfc or follow @NairnCounty on Twitter for team lines before kick-off, coverage of all the major talking points as the game progresses, a report on the final whistle and reaction after the match. Preview below: Date: Saturday August 4th 2018 Competition: Scottish Highland Football League Kick-off: 1500 Opponents: Deveronvale Manager: Steve Dolan Venue: Princess Royal Park, Banff Previous meeting: Deveronvale 2 Nairn County 1 April 21st 2018 Last time out: Nairn County 8 Elgin City 0; Deveronvale 7 Lossiemouth 0 League position: Deveronvale 2nd Nairn County 15th Form guides: Deveronvale W Nairn County LW Team news: Midweek hat-trick Adam Porritt is now on holiday, so will drop out of the Nairn County team for this trip to Deveronvale. Also unavailable is Adam Naismith, who has work commitments while Gregg Main is touch-and-go because of the back injury that forced him off in the season-opener at Formartine United seven days ago and kept him out of the midweek win over Elgin City in the North of Scotland Cup. Returning to the squad for this match though is Fraser Dingwall, who was unavailable for that tie on Wednesday night because he was on holiday. One to watch: Leszek Nowosielski. A summer signing from neighbours, Turriff United, he started his Deveronvale career with a bang by bagging a brace in their opening day thrashing of Lossiemouth last weekend. The Polish midfielder has represented his country at under-18s, 19s and 20s level and originally joined Montrose after moving to Scotland, before a three-year stint at Turriff United. The attacking midfielder will be full of confidence after hitting the ground running at Princess Royal Park and will be eager to add to his tally in this one. Match officials: Referee Chris Fordyce, Assistants Clyde Buchan and Arran Cruickshank. Weather forecast: Light cloud 18 degrees 17 mph wind. Admission prices: Adults £8 Concessions £5 (two children under the age of 14 are admitted for free if they are accompanied by a paying adult). Graeme Macleod
