Campbell red card raises cup final fears for Nairn

Nairn striker Craig Campbell in action against Strathspey before his red card on Saturday.

STRIKER Craig Campbell looks certain to miss this weekend’s Fosters League Cup final for Nairn County after he was sent off in Saturday’s 3-1 Highland League win against Strathspey Thistle, who also finished with 10 men.

The 33-goal hitman took a swipe at Jags Gary Sutherland and paid the price with a costly first half red card, which is likely to see him sit out the showdown against Fraserburgh in Banff.

In-form Dale Gillespie shot Nairn ahead on 57 minutes before Steven Mackay added another with 15 minutes to go. Mackay had been impeded by keeper Willie Ridgers outside the box and he was sent off for picking up his second booking of the afternoon.

Simon Hill pulled one back for Strathspey before Gregg Main secured the three points for Nairn, who will finish sixth if they win their last two league matches.

Cove Rangers can finish third in the table if they win at Formartine United on Wednesday after their 3-1 weekend win at nine-man Clach, who are keen for a disappointing season to finish.

Danny Milne shot Cove ahead on 22 minutes before Chris Ross was sent off for a late challenge.

On 51 minutes, Chris Ross was next to be red-carded when he was judged to have hauled back Daniel Park, who crashed home the free-kick to make it 2-0 for Cove.

Sam Urquhart halved the deficit for Clach with a 73 minute header, but Cove sub Phil Reid added another for the visitors at Grant Street.

The Inverness club, who recently broke free from administration, round off their campaign at Formartine United on Saturday and will aim to bolster their squad this summer and hope for a big improvement next term.

Fort William shocked Turriff United 3-1 at Claggan Park on Saturday to earn only their second Highland League win of the season.

The result puts them just one point behind Strathspey Thistle and means they will move off the bottom if they defeat Nairn County next Wednesday night.

Turriff, fresh from winning the Aberdeenshire Shield against Aberdeen, were behind after just two minutes when Chris MacLeod steered the Lochaber side in front.

This gave Fort confidence and they added another goal on 21 minutes when Logan Barker crashed home a spectacular volley from 18 yards.

A fantastically worked move ended with Michael Ellis putting Fort in dreamland as they marched 3-0 ahead just moments later.

The visitors pulled a goal back just before the break through Dave McKenzie, but there was no more scoring and Fort were thrilled to have earned a surprise and impressive result against the division’s ninth-placed team.

It was party time at Victoria Park where Buckie Thistle retained the Highland League title in a thriller last-day showdown with Deveronvale.

The Banff side had to win the match to grasp the top prize from the Jags, while Buckie needed only a point to clinch the trophy again.

Vale were bang on track to walk away with the honours when they led at half-time thanks to a Mark Chisholm header.

However, Martin Charlesworth netted the equaliser to fire Buckie back towards the title before a last-minute free-kick stunner from Andy Low underlined Jags’ class as the celebrations began in style in front of more than 2,000 supporters.

Elsewhere, Keith and Forres Mechanics shared four goals, while Fraserburgh geared up for Saturday’s Fosters League Cup final with a 2-1 win against Wick Academy.