July 15th 2024
DESPITE seeing his charges rattle in three goals and record a clean sheet against Deveronvale, Nairn County manager Ronnie Sharp felt his players performed better in defeat to Forres at the weekend. It was County's first points of the season and picked up in resounding style with Jordan MacRae opening the scoring early on before Cohen Ramsay stroked home his first goal for the club shortly after the break. Kenny McKenzie was then on target for Sharp's men to round off a good night at the office and ensure that Nairn post their first win of the season three-and-a-half weeks earlier than last year. "We played better on Saturday but did not get anything out of that game," Sharp stated. "With it being the first home game of the season, we are delighted to get the win. It was all about winning tonight and that was the main think after Saturday and in the end, we did it." "We looked sharp with Dylan Mackenzie getting in behind their defence and Jordan (MacRae) holding it up. That allowed us to play in behind with Dylan's pace and we looked a threat, especially in the first 15 minutes but we fell out of it after that. That let them get into and it was pretty even after that." "We got the first goal early on though and it came from a dangerous cross into the box from Dylan and sometimes you get your rewards for that. We did not get that on Saturday but tonight, Jordan was in the right place to put it away." McKenzie's goal saw him celebrate his first outing of the season in style while Ramsay is off the mark just two games into his County career. Sharp added: "It was Kenny's first game because he was suspended on Saturday and he had been struggling in pre-season with a groin injury, so he did not play in a lot of the games." "I thought he did really well tonight and I thought that young Cohen (Ramsay) was excellent. Getting his first goal for the club will do his confidence the world of good. He handled the physical aspect of the game really well again tonight as he did at Forres and that does not seem to be a problem for him. He is still only 17 but he already looks a really talented player." The only setback for Sharp was the 57th minute dismissal of Adam Naismith, who picked up a booking in the first half for a tangle of legs and then a second yellow card for a collision of boots in the middle of the park. "We need to be a bit smarted at times," Sharp said. "It looked like a booking for a raised foot and you leave yourself open to a second yellow if you do that but Adam knows that himself." Sharp has just a couple of days to prepare his troops for a trip to defending Highland League champions, Buckie Thistle on Saturday. He said: "It will be a very difficult game, especially with Buckie dropping points tonight. It is a hard place to go but we went there last year and finished the game with 10 men and were unlucky to only lose 2-1." "Buckie have had a hard start to the season with all of the cup games they have been playing, so hopefully we can put a performance on and get something out of it. They have a lot of good, experienced players though, so we need cool heads and to go there and play our normal game." Graeme Macleod
