Tuesday 9 November
Inverurie Locos 3 Huntly 3
The first-half of this Highland Youth League game against Locos at Harlaw Park, Inverurie, on Tuesday night was evenly-contested, but after the home side took the lead in the second-half Huntly were never in the game until an all-out, last-gasp effort in the last 10 minutes got them the equaliser in stoppage time, writes Alex. Bremner.

With only minutes gone, Steven Thomson had to go full length to cut the ball out from Simon Leslie when Shaun Borrell sent it over.

At the other end, there was an opening for Daryl McGregor when he intercepted a bad clearance by Simon Mathers only to hit the ball past for a goal kick when put under pressure.
There was another opening for Huntly to take the lead when Stephen Jeffrey took Stuart Allan down right on the edge of the home penalty box only for the latter to have his free kick blocked by the wall of defenders.

Locos broke straight to the Huntly end for Steven Thomson to pull off a brilliant save from a Bryan Kinghorn header.

With 31 minutes gone, Daryl McGregor took Stephen Jeffrey down inside the Huntly box as he broke through, with Ross Anderson making no mistake from the resultant penalty.

Before Huntly had recovered from this set-back, Locos broke straight to the visitors' end for Craig Macklin to catch Steven Thomson off his line to add a second a minute later.

Huntly hit back quickly, however, and pulled a goal back in 37 minutes when Stuart Allan was brought down in the home box and got up to score from the spot after Ross Anderson had been booked for protesting too harshly at the penalty award.

Locos came close to increasing their lead again when Craig Macklin got clear to fire in a fierce drive which rebounded back into play off the Huntly crossbar.

There was little between the teams at this stage and with 41 minutes gone Huntly deservedly got the equaliser when a long clearance out of their defence gave Gary Harris an opening to run clear and slip the ball neatly into the net past the diving Stewart Gray.

Half-Time: Inverurie Locos 2 Huntly 2

With only a minute of the second-half gone, Bryan Kinghorn was injured for the home side and had to be replaced by David Ross.

There was a let-off for Huntly when they gave away a needless corner-kick and when the ball was sent over by Simon Leslie from this, Jonathan Stalker had his shot cleared off the line.
The home side was beginning to take command of the game and when Simon Leslie went through in a great run Daryl McGregor stopped the danger at the expense of a corner.
With 59 minutes gone, Locos won yet another corner and when the ball from this was sent over by Shaun Borrell, it was bundled into the net by Jonathan Stalker.

Although Locos were well on top, Huntly never gave up in their effort to get back on level terms, but it was the home side who came near to increasing their lead when Simon Leslie got clear to shoot narrowly over the bar.

As time began to run out, Huntly threw everything into the attack and Paul Winton broke through in a great run before he was crowded out and the ball cleared.
It was all Huntly now and when Paul Winton set the ball up for Craig Maxwell, he missed a good opening to score when he hit the ball wide with only Stewart Gray to beat.

Huntly were throwing everything into a last-gasp effort and first Stewart Gray pulled off a great save from Stuart Allan and then a really brilliant one from a Brian Higgins header off a corner.

Locos were being pushed hard to hang on to their lead and they had a second player yellow carded when Nicholas Gall was booked for his tackle on Stuart Allan in his effort to stop the latter going clear.

With the game running into stoppage time, Huntly deservedly got the equaliser, if only for their all-out pressure in the last 10 minutes of the game, when Craig Maxwell broke clear to score.