Strathspey Thistle rue missed opportunities in narrow defeat to Nairn County
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Strathspey Thistle 0-2 Nairn County
STRATHSPEY Thistle boss Gordy Nicolson is sure his side will pick up more points if they play like they did against Nairn County.
Thistle created plenty of chances in Saturday's Highland League match at Seafield Park but drew a blank.
At the other end of the park they conceded two goals, both of which came from set pieces.
Nicolson said: "We put a lot into the game and deserved something from it.
"If we play like that, we will take points off other teams.
"But we have to capitalise when we are on top and take the chances we create.
"I still felt that even when it went to 2-0 for Nairn, if we had scored, we could have gone on to get something from the game.
"Our start to the game wasn't good and we handed the initiative to them.
"After going 1-0 down we were the better team from that point on. We finished the first half strongly and created some chances in the second half.
"To concede a second goal from a free-kick was a bit of a sickener, but it was a quality finish."
Nairn started well and Kenny McKenzie saw a shot strike the post before the visitors took the lead in the 22nd minute through a header from Fraser Dingwall following a corner.
The Grantown side responded positively to that setback and Ross Naismith tested County keeper Dylan Maclean with a drive which was well saved.
Thistle had the better of the play, but Nairn were still dangerous in attack and Gordy MacNab's opportunistic long range shot struck a post.
In the second half, Strathspey had more of the ball than their opponents but struggled to call Maclean into action, until he saved an effort from Martin Duncan.
Nairn doubled their advantage and secured all three points in the 70th minute, courtesy of a superb curling free-kick from Scott Davidson.
The Jags ended the game with 10-men as Duncan was sent-off late on for denying McKenzie a goalscoring opportunity.
The 13th-placed Jags will look to rebound from this defeat – having won the previous two – on Saturday when they visit a Huntly side one point and one place ahead of them in the table.
Meanwhile, Craig Macmillan and Richard Tawse have both signed one-year contract extensions to stay at Seafield Park.
Goalkeeper Callum Ligertwood has moved on, so the Jags have secured the services of Adam Crichton, who was previously with Forres.
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