BUCKIE THISTLE 1 NAIRN COUNTY 0

Buckie Thistle kept their Highland League title hopes alive and well thanks to a controversial Charlie Brown goal midway through the second half.

The visitors claimed two footballs were on the field of play when Thistle scored but referee Roddy Cobb saw no reason to stop the game and, from Zander Sutherland's cross, Robbie Brown headed the ball down for his name-sake Charlie to net from six yards.  Nairn were furious with the decision and surrounded the referee but he waved away their appeals and the goal stood.

For the second game in a row Buckie survived after conceding from the penalty spot as Kevin Main brilliantly blocked Steven McKay's spot kick just a minute after Brown had edged the home side ahead.

Also for the second game in a row Buckie ended with 10 men as Bob Duncan saw red for the challenge on Robbie Duncanson for the spot kick.

Buckie manager Gregg Carrol felt no infringement had taken place regarding the ball on the pitch.

He said: "At the goal, the throw-in had been taken before the other ball came on to the park, so it was not interfering with play and the referee was happy to let the game go on.  You play to the whistle.  We did and scored.

"Kevin Main saved their penalty kick and made another fine stop when Craig Campbell was through, while we had two Charlie Brown headers and efforts from Steve Bruce, Lewis MacKinnon and Zander Sutherland and, of course, the goal from Charlie Brown.

"We head to Huntly on Wednesday.  It will be another difficult game but there are no easy games when you are trying to win a championship at the business end of the season."

Nairn manager Les Fridge saw the referee's decision differently.

He felt that the game should have been stopped until the other ball had been cleared from the pitch.

He said: "We could see there was another ball on the park and the referee should have stopped the game and had the throw-in retaken.  He let it go and they scored from  it.

"We had a great chance to get back into the game from the penalty.  If we had scored they would have been a bit nervy playing with 10 men and things could have been different."

Report by Press & Journal