July 15th 2024
RONNIE Sharp was unhappy with the pre-match preparation for his side going into this game at Inverurie Locos and felt it was costly as an early goal for the hosts was all that separated these two sides at Harlaw Park. Colin Charlesworth struck with just three minutes on the clock and although Nairn dominated possession, they were unable to really test home goalkeeper, Ryan Booth. Sharp said: "I thought we controlled most of the game after the first 15 minutes but we were very slow to start and our warm-up was poor. We were late in getting here because we did not leave early enough and that meant we were struggling for the first 15 to 20 minutes but after that, we controlled most of the game but we did not look like scoring. We were not clinical in the final third of the park and did not take responsibility to make things happen." He added: "When we get down into the last third, we must make things happen but we waited for things to happen. It has been like that for a lot of the season and it is a problem for us. From our 18 to their 18, we can pass the ball about and we did that well but we are just not clinical enough." "We have to drive at teams in the last third. There is no point in playing little passes all the time – we must look to work the goalie and the boys at the back. We must make them make challenges in areas they do not want to. At the moment, we are not doing that and that is now 11 games we have lost by a single goal. That has been the story of the season." Sharp takes his players to Rothes next weekend to round off their Highland League programme of fixtures for the season. He said: "Hopefully, we can put in a good performance and be better in the final third. The performance was good today but we never created anywhere near enough chances. We need to be better at that. I know we have a lot of young players in the final third but Wayne has nine goals and Gary Kerr has 17 and we cannot rely on those players all the time. We need other players to step up if we are going to move up the league." Graeme Macleod
