November 20th 2023
RONNIE Sharp was satisfied with how his side's final pre-season friendly match of the summer played out as Nairn County knocked in seven goals at New Elgin this afternoon. Jordan MacRae bagged a first half double to have County in control at the break before Jack Maclean headed number three and MacRae doubled his tally with two quick-fire goals to leave him on four for the day. Ross Naismith added number six for Nairn and although New Elgin pulled one back, substitute Dylan Mackenzie blasted a seventh for County to round off the scoring. "It was satisfying to get in among the goals," said Sharp. "Playing against the opposition we did for the first three pre-season games was hard. We did not create a lot of chances but we were up against some real quality sides, so over the last two games, it has been good to get a lot of goals on the score sheet for the confidence of the boys." As well as being pleased for MacRae and his haul, Sharp was also delighted to see three additional scorers in among the goal. "Jordan's four goals were all good goals with good build-up play for them," he said. "It is good to see most of the front boys scoring too. Ross (Naismith) and Dylan (Mackenzie) both got themselves goals and Jack (Maclean) added another one to his tally as well. It was good to see and gives us a confidence boost." Sharp fielded Auldearn-based Inverness CT goalkeeper Stephen Foster and hopes to tie up a loan deal to take the shot stopper to Station Park next week. He also included midfielder Scott MacDonald – making his second trialist appearance having come off the bench at Nairn St Ninian on Thursday night – in his starting eleven. He said: "Stephen did not have a lot to do, so we are not going to judge him on that but what he did have to do, he did really well – his handling was good and he was talking all of the time as well, which was excellent." "We had to go and get a goalkeeper. If boys are away on holiday when the season starts, I cannot wait for them to come back. We had to go and bring someone in on loan because Ryan (Macleod) is behind the rest of the squad because he has had an injury and work commitments, which meant he has missed a few training sessions and is a bit short of game time at the moment. It was a necessity to get another goalkeeper and we hope to finalise everything this week." "I thought Scott MacDonald did well and was strong in the middle of the park. It is going to take him a bit of time to settle in and get up to speed though." The match marked the end of County's pre-season programme having taken on a total of five fixtures this summer. "I have been happy with how it has gone so far," Sharp revealed. "It is very hard to judge until the first few weeks of the season when we will know how pre-season has gone and if it has been worthwhile. Sometimes, you can think you have had a really good pre-season and then make a poor start to the season but at the same time, you can sometimes think that you have had a poor pre-season but go on to make a good start to the season. Hopefully, we will get away to a good start." Graeme Macleod
