Post-Match Reaction: We've Got Our Trophy Back!
A deserved 2-0 victory handed Nairn County their second North of Scotland Cup final success in four seasons as Inverness CT succumbed to Les Fridge's men at Grant Street Park in Inverness.
The clinical finishing of the Highland League side was the difference on the day as County took their chances when they came early in the game before standing firm and seeing out the victory.
It was a fine display of passing moves and counter attacks which handed Nairn their two goals in the opening 15 minutes of the game. From then on, there was no way back for the young ICT side as
The ever-willing Scott Graham broke the deadlock for County with 10 minutes played when he side-footed home a waist-high cut back from Shaun Kerr. Nairn's lead was doubled five minutes later when Duncan Jones surged down the right and squared the ball across the face of the penalty area to Brian Macleod who ran in and placed his shot beyond the advancing goalkeeper to complete County's flawless record of scoring 12 goals and conceding none in four games in the competition.
A delighted Les Fridge gave Nairn County FC Online an exclusive interview after the full time whistle. He said: I'm obviously delighted to win the game. We haven't conceded a goal throughout the whole competition and scored 12 times which is great.
I thought that regardless of what team they (ICT) played, whether it was under-19s or under-21s, they would be an SPL side who are full time professionals and train twice a day."
He added: "I thought we stood up to the game and defended really well when we had to. We got two quick goals and the first one was a great move as Scotty Graham got across the front of the defender to score
"They had wee spells in the game and at times I thought we could have cleared our lines a bit better as we gave them a bit of a sniff at things. But overall I thought we were quite comfortable and deserved to win."
The manager had high praise for every one of his players in the way they came flying out of the traps and restricted their opponents to very little in terms of clear cut chances. He said: "I thought everyone did their job and it was as simple as that. I think John Campbell's first save was after 60-odd minutes so everyone was doing their job and it's another clean sheet. Like I say, in the end I thought we thoroughly deserved it."
The Nairn team has undergone something of a complete transformation since last winning the North Cup in 2005 with only Brian Macleod and Willie Barron remaining from the starting line up that day. Fridge added: "It's great that we've come here and won the cup again and to not even conceed a goal in the competition. I said last season that we might have to go down a different route when we got beat here 5-0 by Clach and that's something that we're going to persevere with. At the moment, it's going ok. We're not going to get carried away and we have another huge game next week at Edinburgh City in the Scottish Cup so we won't be getting over-excited. But the players thoroughly deserve today. They've worked really hard and I hope they have a great night and really enjoy it. But it's back to the hard work in training on Tuesday ahead of Saturday.
"Overall though, all credit to the boys who have been working really hard and we're a very good team when we work hard and everyone does their job. To win it once was a great achievement and I thoroughly enjoyed that but to win it again is tremendous. And in such a short space of time too. To be in three finals in four years is a great achievement for the club."
It was fitting that the only player to play from the start in all three of the North of Scotland Cup finals Nairn have reached in Les Fridge's time at the club - Brian Macleod - should score the decisive second goal. The stand-in captain said: "We've played really well in every game in this competition. It's been a really good start to the season and this has capped it off today."
Macleod has been wearing the armband in the absence of regular skipper Willie Barron but both players lifted the trophy together at the end. He said: "Willie's been out for a few weeks with holidays so the two of us went up for the trophy today which I thought was good. And it was good to get a goal today because I've missed a few chances over the last few weeks and if I missed that one I think I would have had to retire! Shaun (Kerr) was offside in the build up but I shouted at him to leave. The keeper came out quite quickly and I actually thought he'd got there and was going to save it on the line but thankfully it went, gave us a good start and we held on after that."
Macleod had praise for the front pairing of Kerr and Graham who are developing into a potent partnership. He said: "They play really well together and the two of them have been brilliant all season. Although Scotty Graham's not been getting as many goals as Shaun, he's been playing absolutely outstanding.
"We've not played a lot of the top teams so far this year and I think it's helped that we've played a lot of the teams around about us. It's given us the chance to build a platform and we beat Keith last week. That's what we need to be doing week in, week out. We need to be beating these teams if we're to have a chance of being up there.
The wide midfielder was also optimistic about County's chances of pushing on in the league and challlenging the Aberdeenshire FA supremacy. He said: "It's obviously hard because these clubs have the finances and a lot better players. But we've got to be looking at around seventh or sixth place upwards and take it from there but it is difficult to compete."
Duncan Jones was having a fine match on the right hand side of midfield and played a part in the build up to both goals before having to be substituted at half time because of a back injury. He said: "We set out a game plan to get at them early doors. We knew they would be a fit side and they would come strong at the end. It worked in the first half. We got the goals early and managed to defend during the rest of the game and played really well.
He added: "I'm very happy and I have been doing well out on the right wing for some reason! I was just happy for us to get the goals to be honest. Scotty did really well for the first one when Shaun made the run and cut the ball back. But Scotty deserved a goal today because he does a lot for the team and doesn't really get the plaudits I don't think.
"And for the second one, Brian Macleod - Mr Consistent - comes in on the end to get another good goal so we were happy with that."
DJ has high praise for the defence this season. He said: "I think a lot has to be said for the defence this season. They are keeping clean sheets and that makes a big difference. They showed last week against Keith, did well against Clach and again today the defending was spot on.
"I think the big difference this season has been our back four. With a back three we were being dragged about but with a back four we've been solid. Scotty Graham has also made a big difference and Gregg Main in the middle has been spot on this year. He's been absolutely brilliant. Everyone has been doing their job this year and the likes of Willie Barron and Wayne Mackintosh have been kept out of the team so the bench is strong as well.
The former Don added: "We've got depth in the squad this year and I think a lot of people have been surprised by us. We didn't have the best of starts against Inverurie but since then we've come onto a game and last week's result (2-1 win against Keith) was probably a bigger result than today. It shows everyone that we're making a challenge and with this today we're just delighted. We move on to next week when we're away down to Edinburgh and we'll see how that goes."