July 15th 2024
COUNTY boss Les Fridge was unhappy at his side's pedestrian approach to their play in the final third as they squeezed past bottom club Rothes, writes Graeme Macleod. Sam Urquhart had Nairn in front 28 minutes in but Rothes equalised through Ricky Henderson just three minutes later. It took until 15 minutes from the end for the home side to turn their domination of possession into another goal though as County sluggish attacking play failed to find a way through the well-organised and hard-working visitors. Fridge said: "It was very much a struggle and we made life difficult for ourselves. We could have moved the ball a lot quicker and been a lot sharper. I also thought our decision-making and our passing in the last third could have been a lot better and crisper." "Take nothing away from them (Rothes) – they worked really hard and had two real chances. The first one was the goal, which came about because of a mistake by Paul Macleod when he miscued and the second one was from a free kick, which produced a good save from Calum Antell. We have totally dominated the game apart from those two incidents and we made it a struggle but it is still three points and we will take it." Rothes arrived at Station Park off the back of a 7-1 hammering by Clachnacuddin last weekend and set up their side to frustrate the hosts in the hope of nicking a point and it very nearly paid off. Fridge added: "They were coming off a bit of a hiding last week and had a lot of bodies behind the ball – at one point I think they had everyone behind the ball camped on the edge of the 18-yard box. That is hard to break down." Fridge felt that if his side had retained their first half lead and went on to build upon it then they too could have racked up a big win against the Speysiders, like a lot of Highland League clubs have done already this season. He explained: "If we had gone in at half time 1-0 up and then managed to score another goal early in the second half then it would have become a different game. The mistake has allowed them back into the game but it was a great finish by the boy (Ricky Henderson). That gave them something to hold on to." "As I said, I thought we could have done things a lot sharper in and around the final third but as much as that was the case, even when he did create chances, the goalkeeper was saving them or there was someone there to boot the ball off the line. It was one of those days in that respect but we will take the three points." Fridge saw his side take the lead but then concede a quick equaliser for the second week in succession. He stated: "It was a mistake again. We seem to be doing that a lot this season. We just need to be a bit more vigilant but it is a difficult thing to work on because it is down to individual errors." Despite his frustration at today's performance, Fridge is confident of his players being back on it when they visit Buckie Thistle next weekend. He said: "When you look at last week's game, we were really sharp and we did things really quickly against Lossie but take nothing away from Rothes – they will be pleased, especially after last week's result, because they have come here and worked really hard." Graeme Macleod
