Scottish Highland League 11th March

[Beanie]

4:00 PM Buckie Thistle 2.25
X 3.75
Forres Mechanics 2.40

4:00 PM Deveronvale 1.25
X 5.50
Cove Rangers 6.75

4:00 PM Fraserburgh 1.30
X 5.00
Wick Academy 6.25

4:00 PM Huntly 1.07
X 8.00
Brora Rangers 15.00

4:00 PM Keith 2.00
X 3.75
Clachnacuddin 2.75

4:00 PM Lossiemouth 2.50
X 3.75
Inverurie Loco Works 2.15

4:00 PM Rothes 2.60
X 3.75
Nairn County 2.10

From Betandwin

[Beanie]

You won't be surprised to hear that Forres Mechanics are once again involved in our Game of the Day as Steve Paterson looks for his side to move above Buckie Thistle on goal difference by putting one over his former managerial team mate Duncan Shearer at Victoria Park.

The Jags sit in second place and despite the absence of Shawn Scott, Greig Pirie and David Angus the return of skipper Paul Lamberton and Neil Davidson will boost their squad ahead of this crucial clash. The Can Can's have their skipper Neil Whyte, Steve Mackay and Buckie loon Andy Matheson back in the squad.

With a full squad at their disposal table toppers Deveronvale know that if they win their last five games the title is theirs. However they still have to face Cove Rangers twice and the Toonsers will be keen to put a spanner in the works. Winger John Brown's injury will rule him out until April at least and Neil Cruickshank is doubtful.

According to our online predictions this week Inverurie Locos are still heavily backed to win the title and apart from the long term injury casualties of Kenny McKenzie and Richie Singer they travel to Lossie in good health. The Coasters will be pulling out all the stops to get a full squad listed having lost Joe Lasley to RAF duty in Iraq and Martin McMullen who has gone to work offshore.

Fraserburgh's Trevor Fleming and Ryan Christie are both suspended but top scorer Gavin Wemyss is set to return. Billy Gordon will undergo a fitness test having damaged his neck during the loss to Nairn. Their opponents, Wick will miss skipper Martin Gunn but he will be the Scorries only absentee as they look to do a rare league double over the Burry boys.

Keith's match against Clachnacuddin is scheduled to kick off at 2 pm due to the Maroons having a fund raising sportsman's dinner in Aberdeen in the evening. Ally Ferrie and Darren Stephen may have benefited from the extra week's lay off but they remain the only two doubts for Martin Allan's side.

The Lilywhites are getting back towards being at full strength with Steve Macdonald back in the pool and they will be looking to well travelled striker Alex Bone to supply the cutting edge once more as he aims to remain on target for the HFL top scorer prize. An early morning inspection will be carried out

Both Rothes and Nairn recorded impressive victories in their last outings but with last week's cup clash between the two being pushed back to the 25th they will be keen to get at least one of the Mackessack meetings out of the way.

Rothes will be hoping Nathan Sharp is close to a return but Kevin Collins and Jamie Miller are still sidelined with groin and knee injuries respectively. The Wee County will hope to see Duncan Jones and Scott Kellacher closer to full fitness but are unlikely to alter their team. Once again an early morning inspection will be carried out.

Finally Brora Rangers' centre back John Smith will miss the Cattach's trip to Christie Park this weekend due to suspension. Huntly have doubts over Scott Anderson and Russell Guild. With some snow still on the pitch Huntly will be inspecting the pitch tonight and may well repeat that process in the morning.

[Beanie]

I think there may be a bit of money laid upon the three team still in the title race to lose this Saturday, maybe not in a treble but between a number of different coupons. With Buckie Thistle 9/4 to beat Forres Mechanics at Victoria Park, Cove Rangers 7/1 to beat Deveronvale at Princess Royal Park and Lossiemouth at 8/1 to beat Inverurie Locos at Grant Park I am sure there will be a few punters backing the underdog.

The biggest underdog of them all this weekend is Brora Rangers who are 20/1 to upset Huntly at Christie Park. Is this good value? Well having been very poor against Lossie in their last outing the Cattachs may feel they owe Jim Kelly a performance, and with Huntly now all but out of the title race (well unless you agree with Jim Brown's assessment of the game posted by Colin Machray) could it be Brora's day at last?

Scot Ads Highland League Weekend Odds

Home Home Team Away Away Team Draw
9/4 Buckie Thistle 5/6 Forres Mechanics 12/5
1/3 Deveronvale 7/1 Cove Rangers 10/3
4/7 Fraserburgh 11/2 Wick Academy 10/4
1/20 Huntly 20/1 Brora Rangers 6/1
10/11 Keith 9/4 Clachnacuddin 12/5
8/1 Lossiemouth 3/10 Inverurie Locos 10/3
3/1 Rothes 8/13 Nairn County 13/5

From www.highlandleague.net

[Beanie]

The shortlist this week is Forres, Inverurie and Nairn...with the focus on Inverurie who BAW have at 2.15 and the locals have at 1.30.

Looking at the team news its all good for the Locos as one of Lossie's more prolific scorers of the last two weeks McMullan is out, while I might give Forres and Nairn a miss, or just small stakes.

The table:

Deveronvale FC 23 17 2 4 70 27 43 53
Buckie Thistle FC 24 13 7 4 42 21 21 46
Huntly FC 24 13 6 5 59 34 25 45
Forres Mechanics FC 20 14 1 5 65 26 39 43
Inverurie Loco Works FC 20 13 3 4 42 15 27 42
Clachnacuddin FC 25 12 5 8 54 51 3 41
Keith FC 22 12 4 6 50 34 16 40
Nairn County FC 26 11 4 11 51 43 8 37
Fraserburgh FC 22 10 6 6 56 34 22 36
Cove Rangers FC 21 10 5 6 41 31 10 35
Lossiemouth FC 24 6 4 14 37 83 -46 22
Wick Academy FC 24 5 4 15 34 55 -21 19
Rothes FC 22 6 1 15 35 61 -26 19
Brora Rangers FC 23 2 1 20 27 73 -46 7
Fort William FC 22 0 1 21 13 88 -75 1

Lossie's -46 goal difference is always worth a look, while Inverurie's superb defensive record(15 conceded compared to a next best 21 for Buckie) is also impressive.

Recent results:

03 01 2006

Inverurie Loco Works FC 2 v 0 Fort William FC
Lossiemouth FC 4 v 3 Rothes FC

07 01 2006

Inverurie Loco Works FC 3 v 0 Fraserburgh FC
Keith FC 4 v 3 Lossiemouth FC

14 01 2006

Fort William FC 2 v 2 Lossiemouth FC
Nairn County FC 2 v 2 Inverurie Loco Works FC

21 01 2006

Inverurie Loco Works FC 3 v 1 Wick Academy FC
Lossiemouth FC 1 v 0 Nairn County FC

28 01 2006

Cove Rangers FC 1 v 0 Inverurie Loco Works FC
Wick Academy FC 2 v 2 Lossiemouth FC


04 02 2006

Lossiemouth FC 0 v 2 Cove Rangers FC

11 02 2006

Clachnacuddin FC 1 v 2 Inverurie Loco Works FC Scot-Ads Highland League
Forres Mechanics FC 8 v 1 Lossiemouth FC Scot-Ads Highland League

18 02 2006

Inverurie Loco Works FC 3 v 0 Brora Rangers FC Scot-Ads Highland League
Lossiemouth FC 2 v 3 Clachnacuddin FC Scot-Ads Highland League

25 02 2006
Brora Rangers FC 2 v 5 Lossiemouth FC

------------------------------------------------------

Fans Predictions:

Lossie 1 Locos 3
Lossie 3 Locos 1
Lossie 1 Locos 4
Lossie 1 Locos 3
Lossie 1 Locos 2
Lossie 1 Locos 3
Lossie 1 Locos 4
Lossie 1 Locos 4
Lossie 1 Locos 4
Lossie 0-5 Locos
Lossie 2-2 Locos
Lossie 0-4 Locos
Lossie 1 Locos 5
Lossie 0 Locos 2
Lossie 0 Locos 4
Lossie 1 Locos 3
Loosie 0 Locos 2
LOSSIE 1 LOCOS 0
LOSSIE 1 LOCOS 3
Lossie 1 Locos 4
Lossiemouth 1 Inverurie Locos 2

I make that:

21 predictions with: 2 home wins, 1 draw, 18 away wins

And an average score of:

Lossie 0.90 Locos 3.04

Preview from Lossimouth Official Site:

After last Saturdays postponement, Lossie are back in action this weekend and play host to championship contenders Inverurie Locos at Grant Park. The sides still have to play each other twice and Locos will need to win both in order to keep up with Deveronvale and Forres, but the Coasters provided strong enough opposition to force a replay in the Qualifying Cup semi-final earlier in the season.

Lossiemouth were last in action two weeks ago, when they came from behind to record a 5-2 victory over a stuffy Brora Rangers side at Dudgeon Park. Last weekends whiteout means the first round of the Fosters Highland League Cup will take place on March 25th, with the Coasters at home to Fort William.

Inverurie Locos also suffered at the hands of the weather last weekend, with their home tie against Clachnacuddin postponed due to snow. The Locos were last in action on the 18th of March when they saw off Brora Rangers by three goals to nil at Harlaw Park.

Despite this being the first league encounter of the season between the two, Lossie and Locos have faced each other twice already. The Qualifying Cup semi-final draw paired the two together at Grant Park and Lossie did things the difficult way, coming from two goals down to force a replay through a last minute penalty from Steven Ellis. The replay a week later went the way of Locos but they also had to come from behind after Craig Morrison opened the scoring early on.

Last season saw Inverurie pick up all six points against Lossie. A Darren Shalliker free kick saw Lossie take the lead in the game at Grant Park before a missed penalty and a sending off for Lossie allowed the Locos come back to triumph. The game at Harlaw Park was slightly more one sided, as Inverurie squeaked home by the narrow margin of eight goals to one.

With neither side having played for at least a fortnight, it is difficult to tell how this one will go. With the exception of last seasons final day surrender, games between the two have been close affairs, yet Lossie have still to get the better of Locos. Could this weekend the Coasters finally run the Locos off the rails and put the Harlaw title challenge into a siding, or will the Locos steam through and leave the Lossie defence standing at the platform?

Good luck boys!
- Season 2005/06 - At Grant Park - Lossie 2 Inverurie Locos 2 (QCSF); At Harlaw Park – Inverurie Locos 3 Lossie 1 (QCSFR)
- Season 2004/05 - At Grant Park - Lossie 1 Inverurie Locos 3 (HFL); At Harlaw Park – Inverurie Locos 8 Lossie 1
- Season 2003/04 - At Grant Park - Lossie 1 Inverurie Locos 3 (HFL); At Harlaw Park – Inverurie Locos 2 Lossie 2
- Last time out – Brora Rangers 2 Lossie 5; Inverurie Locos 3 Brora Rangers 0
- Lossies last five home games - LWWLL
- Inverurie Locos last five away games - LLDLW

Good enough for me:

4pts Inverurie @ 2.15 at Betandwin

[milners]

yes i'm going with that bet too althoulth it restricted me on the bet!!!

[JohnB2]

You need all the 4 BAW clones, and have 2 accounts at each, so can get 8 lots of bets on in total.

BetSafe also do Highland lge now....they had the game @1.80 so can get more on in total

[Beanie]

Cheers John.

I checked Betsafe on Friday afternoon and saw no sign of prices - I take it they go up quite late?

Easy win for Inverurie but the other couple on the shortlist Nairn and Forres didn't come in, and BAW seem to be getting a few more right than they were a couple of months ago.

Still, just one glaring error per week will continue to do