'We will keep fighting' - Strathspey Thistle manager's rallying call ahead of basement fight
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Strathspey Thistle manager Robert MacCormack says his charges will "keep on fighting" after they suffered their 19th defeat of the Highland League season last Saturday.
But the Jags boss believes his side could have taken more from their trip to Lossiemouth, after a second half penalty award denied them a point.
He said: "The better team lost on the day, but if you don’t take your chances you’re not going to win many games.
"In truth, the game should have been out of sight in the first half. Even in the second half, we were the better team. It makes it hard for us to take as the players were excellent.
"Fair play to Lossiemouth. They got stuck in and won the points. We kept pushing for a second goal, but it just didn't come."
A goalless first half heralded no joy for either side, with an Owen Paterson shot off the crossbar the best offering from the Jags.
The deadlock was finally broken on 66 minutes when Ross Morrison drilled the ball past Ethan Rae after being played through by Ryan Farquhar.
Thistle grabbed an equaliser just four minutes later though when Owen Loveland slammed home the rebound after a Michael McKenzie strike was saved by Cameron Farquhar.
Disaster then struck with a quarter of an hour remaining when a cross to the back post hit the arm of Caelan Mutch, resulting in a penalty kick award for Lossiemouth.
Converting the spot kick, Niall Kennedy stroked the ball past Rae to make it 2-1.
Thistle were handed a late advantage when Jared Kennedy was dismissed for a second bookable offence, but the Moray side held on to claim all three points.
Strathspey: Rae, Gilliland (Loveland 60), Mutch, Neil, McShane, Mackay, Davies, Davison, Patterson, Logan, McKenzie. Not used: Cuthbert, Kerr, Sutherland, Mcleod, Flett
The defeat leaves Thistle on four points after 21 games – some seven points behind nearest rivals Keith, who have two games in hand.
The Grantown side have failed to earn a single point in the Highland League since their draw with Clachnacuddin last November.
MacCormack is realistic about what the rest of the season holds, keeping one eye on the progress of undefeated Midlands Football League contenders Lochee United, who remain favourites to earn a spot in the Highland League pyramid playoff.
But the Jags boss remains stoic on his side's chances of avoiding the trapdoor spot.
He added: "We understand our position and all we are concentrating on is ourselves and picking up points. Our performances have been good but we are not getting the points we deserve out of the games which is frustrating.
"We would be silly not to keep one eye on other leagues and potential opponents, but there’s still plenty of points to play for this season and we will keep fighting until the very end.
"I’ve got a great group of guys and although it’s hard, they won’t give up. We will all keep fighting until the last game of the season. And hopefully we can do what it takes to get off the bottom."
The Jags were dealt a blow on Wednesday evening when a frozen pitch at Seafield Park resulted in postponement of their league meeting with Wick Academy. The manager is now looking ahead to Saturday afternoon, when his side will entertain a much-improved Inverurie Locos.
MacCormack added: "There's not much we can do about the weather. It’s frustrating as we would like to play games and get points on the board. But hopefully the weather improves in the next while.
"Locos poses us another challenge that we have to look forward to. They are a very good side but we will have a game plan to be hard to beat and we'll hopefully cause them problems going forward."
