Saturday 18 February
Huntly 2 Forres Mechanics 2
pictures courtesy of Simon Price c/o Firstpix

Huntly twice came from behind to earn a share of the points and remain in second position following a 2-2 home draw with Forres Mechanics writes Grant Turner.

Huntly controlled the first half and threatened as early as the second minute. Matty Gairns' right wing cross wasn't clear and Gary McGowan gained possession as Martin Rae held his shot. Three minutes later, Lewis MacKinnon was less clinical in front of goal firing over from distance.
In the fifteenth minute Levi Stephen's free kick in from the right found Gary McGowan at the back post but the winger just failed to get a clean connection as the ball trickled past the post.

In the 22nd minute Huntly went even closer. Matty Gairns raced down the right wing and delivered the ball into the box where Richard Craig took it first time six yards out, and rattled the post with the rebound being struck wide by Russell Guild.

Forres took the lead in the 34th minute with their first attempt on target when Steve Mackay fired in a free kick and Ryszard Gorski could only parry it as far as Mechanics top scorer Craig MacMillan who shot into the empty net.

It was enough to ensure the Cans went in at the break a goal to the good although Huntly had edged the half both in terms of having the territorial advantage and the majority of the possession.

Half Time: Huntly 0 Forres Mechanics 1

Huntly started the second half well and had claims for a penalty as Guild was pushed inside the area. The home side battled on as McGowan forced a corner shortly after. From the resultant corner, Guild's header was wide of the target after Levi Stephen delivered

The Black and Golds levelled just a minute after the hour when a Gary McGowan corner from the left was headed back across goal by Russell Guild and an Alan Redford header took a nick off Craig Campbell as the defender scored for only the second time in his Huntly career.

Five minutes later, a good ball over the top from Guild found Craig but Rae was quick to turn the ball away from goal. Craig was quick to regain possession only for Rae to pull out another good stop this time tipping Guild's header round the post.

The equilibrium lasted only 9 minutes and there was more than a hint of controversy about the goal. Craig MacMillan initially looked to have caught Lee McGregor and then progressed down the wing leaving the teenager on the deck. The goalscorer turned provider laying it on a plate for Mike Sanderson who put the Can Cans back in front despite the far side linesman raising his flag for offside only to change his mind and award a goal.
After 4 minutes of treatment, young McGregor was stretchered off and was replaced by Richie Taylor.

Shortly after, Macmillan was left on his own up front and forced Gorski to save one on one. With the keeper only parrying the shot, Macmillan was quick to get to the ball again and his shot looked goal-bound only for Mark Gray to make a remarkable recovery to clear the ball on the line.

Ten minutes from time Huntly pulled themselves level again. A 25 yard free kick by Gary McGowan was hit low and hard off the wall as Ross Campbell collected it before drilling past the keeper for his fifth of the season.

Steven Mackay then saw red two minutes later in the silliest of circumstances when he refused to take the free kick from the spot the referee stipulated. After moving the ball the second time to prevent taking the kick on a divot, Mackay was booked for the second time in the game and subsequently dismissed.

There was another strong penalty claim as Forres defender Graeme Grant handballed inside the area. Referee Mat Northcroft waved play on as both benches were left shaking their heads in disbelief.

Huntly's Redford came close again to adding another heading over from Gairns' free kick with a minute to go.

Into stoppage time, both sides still had chances to steal a win. Jerry O'Driscoll saw an effort saved low by Rae while at the other end, Gorski made two great stops to deny Craig Campbell a glaring goal and later MacKinnon who also failed to beat the big keeper.