The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Donaldson delight as Keith get back to winning ways
STRATHSPEY KEITH 2 3
Keith registered their first Highland League win since November with a 3-2 victory at Strathspey Thistle on Saturday.
All five goals came in the second half, with the victory moving Keith up two spots in the table to 15th spot.
With Maroons top scorer Cammy Keith on holiday, Stewart Hutcheon, Max Berton and Michael Selfridge stepped up to score their first goals for the club.
Keith manager Dean Donaldson, who took charge in January, was pleased to get his first league win.
He said: “We made it hard for ourselves in the first half and it was frustrating at half-time.
“I made a couple of changes and it worked right away.
“When we went up 2-0 we needed another one to be sure but they came back at us and their equaliser was a cracker. We responded right away and Jamie Lennox showed his class by setting up our winner.
“It wasn’t pretty football but we showed good character and determination.”
It was all action in the first half but Strathspey created the better chances to score.
Ross Naismith forced a fine diving save out of teenage Maroons goalkeeper Harrison Sharp with the youngster doing well to also hold a James McShane shot.
As half-time approached Adam McLeod spurned a glorious opportunity from close range.
Positional changes for the Maroons saw them take control in the second half and within four minutes they broke the deadlock in great style.
Defender Hutcheon strode forward before unleashing a fizzing 20yard effort into the top corner for his first goal in 190 appearances.
Three minutes later, Selfridge played in Berton who calmly clipped the ball home from 12 yards to put the visitors in the driving seat.
However, James McShane pulled one back for Strathspey from 18 yards in the 56th minute before a powerful header from Ashley Ballam levelled the scores after 76 minutes.
The Maroons kept a cool head to nab the winner barely a minute later with Lennox’s perfect pass allowing Selfridge to slot beyond the advancing Michael McCallum.
Strathspey manager Alasdair Munro said: “This was a big match for us so I am bitterly disappointed. We got back into the game but lost our concentration. It’s been the story of our season, going behind in the first 10 minutes of the second half.”