July 15th 2024
COUNTY boss Les Fridge could not hide his disappointment as Buckie Thistle fought back from a goal down to claim all three points at Station Park. The hosts were firmly in control at the interval and led thanks to John Cameron’s opener but some slack defending straight from kick-off at the start of the second half allowed Jay Cheyne in to find an equaliser. That swung the momentum of the match in the visitors’ favour and they went in front 10 minutes later through Chris Hegarty’s drive. That floored County and despite pressing for a leveller, the hosts were left empty handed. Fridge spoke after the final whistle and said: “We looked good in the first half and Calum Antell did not have a save to make. We were coping with things but Michael Morrison going off injured at half time was a bit of a blow to us and we then went and lost a goal within 30 seconds of the start of the second half to a big punt up the park which we did not deal with. “Fair enough, the boy’s strike for the second goal was a decent hit but I thought we totally dominated them for the last 20 minutes and ended up with four up front – Kenny McKenzie, Alan Pollock, Sam Urquhart and John Cameron. We threw everything at it but it just was not to be and that is disappointing.” Morrison’s withdrawal at the interval led to a defensive reshuffle which saw Glenn Main move inside to centre half while Adam Naismith came on as a substitute at left back. Fridge added: “Mo is an influential player because he talks and he organises but we should have still been able to deal with that (the goal) because it was just a big punt up the park. “For the last 20 minutes, we were practically camped in their half and they just booted the ball the way they were facing to do everything to try to see the result out and hit us on the break. “It is disappointing after the first half when we looked very comfortable. The first goal was a terrible goal from our point of view but when Buckie went in front, they then had something to hold on to. As I said, they were just booting the ball anywhere because we had them camped in on the edge of their 18-yard box. “That is very hard to play against and we tried to change things by putting a bit of pace on and as I said, we ended up with four up front at the end of the game, so there is not much more we could have tried.” Morrison was clearly in discomfort towards the end of the first half but played on until the interval so that the full extent of his injury could be assessed at the break. Despite the skipper re-emerging during the break to try to run it off, he made way before the match recommenced. Fridge revealed: “He felt his calf a wee bit when he went forward and was obviously struggling towards the end of the first half so we could not go on like that and had to make the change.” Graeme Macleod
