October 9th 2026
PRE-SEASON FRIENDLY
NAIRN COUNTY 0 – 6 ELGIN CITY
TUESDAY 30 JUNE 2026
STATION PARK, NAIRN
Goal Scorers: Matthew Grant (25′), Miko Vitanen (40′), Trialist (49′, 50′), Connell Ewan (55′), Lewis Hyde (80′)
Match Report by John Dolan
Nairn’s pre-season preparations continued on Tuesday night when League 2 Elgin City provided the opposition at Station Park.
And the Borough Briggs men proved to be just a bit too slick for the home side and their three rapid-fire goals in just six minutes after the break ended the game as a contest.
Elgin were on the front foot from the start and Kane Hester found space on the edge of the box, but a timely block from captain Millar Gamble denied the Elgin man.
Hester then flicked the ball into the path of Russell Dingwall, but again some good defending, this time from Angus Dey, denied him.
At the other end, Kenny McInnes also saw his well-struck shot blocked on the edge of the area as the game began to open up more.
But it was the visitors who broke the deadlock in 25 minutes when Matthew Grant picked out Mark Gallagher and his low ball found Hester racing in to stab the ball beyond Tom McHale in the Nairn goal.
Minutes later and Oli Colloty fired just over for the visitors.
Hester really should have doubled his side’s lead in 34 minutes when Dingwall picked him out, unmarked, but the No 9 fluffed his shot with only McHale to beat.
However, five minutes before the break it was 2-0 when Dingwall’s corner found the head of Miko Vitanen, who made no mistake at the back post. (H-T 0-2.)
Four minutes after the break, Elgin stretched their lead when Trialist latched on to a fine through ball before firing past McHale.
A minute later and Trialist blasted home number four from the edge of the box. And it was 5-0, in 55 minutes, when Connall Ewan turned in the box to get his shot away, which McHale got his gloves to, but not enough to keep it out.
County replied with two decent efforts on target. Dey had keeper Tom Ritchie at full stretch and he did well again to keep out substitute Ben Kelly’s follow-up drive.
But some poor defending with 80 minutes on the clock by Gamble put his side in trouble and although substitute keeper Lewis Munro saved from Trialist, Lewis Hyde followed up to drill the ball low past the keeper to complete the scoring.
NAIRN COUNTY – McHale (Munro 75), Carnihan, Walker (Voigt 75), Gamble, Dey (Trialist 79), Eadie (H. Mackenzie 79), Mackay, MacInnes (Bain 57), Barron (Kelly 53), Thomson, K. McKenzie (Wood 57).
ELIGN CITY – Ritchie, Vitanen, Girvan, Hester, Gallagher, Colloty, Ewan, Neill, Grant, Dingwall, Trialist. Substitutes – Taylor, Trialist, Murray, Cameron, Cairns, Machado, Hyde, MacDonald, Chapman, Rothnie, Fraser.
