6 hours ago
NAIRN County are this morning delighted to confirm the signing of striker Liam Shewan (pictured) from Clachnacuddin. The 23-year-old attacker’s arrival at Station Park ends a long pursuit of his signature and he goes straight into contention for a debut in this afternoon’s home derby match against Forres Mechanics. Ronnie Sharp revealed: “Liam first came to our attention when he was on trial at Inverness CT for a pre-season game against us a year-and-a-half ago. He scored in that match and I thought he did well when he played for Clach against us at the start of this season, too." “He is a forward who makes intelligent runs and can drop in deep to get on the ball or run in behind. He is not shy about getting into the box to get on to deliveries from wide and that is something we have been lacking in our most recent games." “We are quite a bit down on the number of goals we have scored this season compared to the same number of games last season but we have improved the goals against column, so that shows you the areas of the team we need to work on." “We are happy with how we have been defending and our build-up play on the ball but we are lacking in the final third of the park and it has had a big impact on how we have performed in the first half of the season. That does not mean it is the strikers who are at fault – everyone has to take responsibility for making the correct decisions when they are in the attacking areas of the pitch and put the ball in the net when they get the opportunity." “We are hoping that by bringing Liam to the club now, it can help us to improve that part of our game. He has not had too much game time lately, so he will need some time to get up to speed with the rest of the squad but we are confident that he will do well for us once he settles in.” Shewan has signed a two-and-a-half year contract with the club and Sharp added: “We first enquired about Liam at the start of the season when he was not in the Clach team but Iain Polworth – who was still the Clach manager at the time – did not want to let him go and he then got back in the side after that. “Brian Macleod has gone in there at Clach now and changed things about and Liam just felt it did not suit his style of play. He had been on the bench for the last few games when we spoke to him with a view to joining us when his contract ended in the summer. He was keen to come in now, so we moved to get a deal done and I am delighted that we have been able to sign him up." “We know Brian well and I know our Director of Football Graeme Macleod has a good relationship with Alex Chisholm, the Clach chairman, so it has been easy to come to an arrangement that suits all parties and we would like to thank them for that.” Shewan started out in amateur football with Merkinch before spending a successfully season-and-a-half in the North Region Juniors with Grantown, where he caught the attention of Clachnacuddin and stepped up to Highland League level in December 2015. His three years at Grant Street are now at an end as he begins a fresh challenge with his new club. Graeme Macleod
