Brechin City kick of Highland League campaign with win

Lenny Wilson, Fraser MacLeod and Grady McGrath all made their competitive debuts for the club whilst there was a start for Euan Spark, now in his second spell with City.

City came flying out the traps and could have been ahead after just 20 seconds when McGrath played an intricate flick into the path of MacLeod who saw his shot blocked.

Still within the opening minute, City spurned another glorious opportunity when Cruickshank crossed into the box for Scott who fired over from a few yards out.

The visitors had their first real foray up the park after 20 minutes when Lenny Wilson made a fine save to keep out a rasping drive from Steven Mackay from a tight angle.

City were certainly knocking on the door and they got the goal that they deserved bang on the hal- hour mark.

Scott was the architect as he collected the ball on the right hand side, he darted past several players all the way to the left side of the box before producing the cross for Cammie Ross who bundled into the net from a couple of yards out.

It was a fairly uneventful start to the second half, with the first real opportunity arriving shortly before the hour mark when a Rothes trialist was booked for a foul 25 yards out.

Bain stepped up to take the free kick but his curling effort was straight at the keeper.

The chances kept coming for City and Rothes had their keeper to thank to keeping them in the game on 72 minutes.

Scott floated an inch-perfect cross into the box for the unmarked McGrath eight yards out but McCarthy made a stunning save to push his volley over the bar.

From the resulting corner, Spark met Bain’s cross perfectly but his powerful header just flashed inches past the post.

With quarter of an hour remaining, Andy Kirk made his first change with goalscorer Cammie Ross coming off for Jordan Northcott, and several minutes later Nathan Cooney came on to get more minutes under his belt as he replaced Euan Spark in defence.

Despite City’s dominance, at 1-0 there was always a concern that Rothes could punish on the break and they weren’t far away nine minutes from time.

A trialist saw his strike blocked on the edge of the box and the ball fell for substitute Kyle Whyte who chipped just over the bar.

Almost immediately up at the other end, Patrick burst forward from midfield and exchanged passes with McGrath and despite just having the keeper to beat, he screwed the ball just past the post.

As time wore down, Rothes were reduced to 10 men when a trialist was sent off for a second bookable offence.

City saw out the game with relative ease to ensure that the three points stayed in Brechin.

Next up for City is a trip to face Forres Mechanics who head into the game off the back of a thumping 4-0 victory over Strathspey Thistle.