Post Match Reaction: 'We Could Have Won It' - Fridge
Makeshift Nairn County were at long odds to take anything from their trip to Cove Rangers but a Brian Macleod double and a second half Shaun Kerr strike earned Les Fridge's men a deserved share of the spoils. And the manager believes his team were unlucky not to take all three points from their visit to Rainbow Taxis Park.
The visitors opened the scoring when Macleod smashed home a left-footed drive from 22 yards before the Nairn captain for the day then doubled County's lead from the penalty spot after Scott Graham was
Nairn's lead wasn't to last though as John Sheran's men found an equaliser only a minute after going behind and Nairn stood firm to pick up a welcome point. After the match, Les Fridge said: "I cannot fault the effort of the boys. We had to earn our three goals and I thought two of their three goals were actually mistakes by us.
"We had to change things about a bit today and it meant we had a bit of a makeshift team. We had Steven Edwards and Willie Barron calling off yesterday along with Duncan Jones and Johnathon Holland being injured and the three boys who are suspended. That meant we had seven players out today but I thought we were excellent. We took the game to Cove and had a go. We were organised and were under a bit of pressure late on - which we knew was going to come from free kicks around the box and corners - but I thought we more than deserved at least something out of the game and from my point of view, I'm disappointed we didn't win it."
Brian Macleod made a captain's contribution for County as he took
Fridge said: "Brian Macleod's first was a great strike. It was a good move which led to the penalty too and then we had a great bit of individual skill from Shaun Kerr for the third which was a real piece of magic. As for the goals we lost, we lost one from a throw in when the boy got turned inside the box and cut it back and it should never have got that far. There was a bit of a misunderstanding for the second goal with two defenders going for the same ball and they both clashed and let the boy in. On the other hand, we really had to earn our goals and I think overall, if we were sitting here having won the game no one could have any complaints."
Nairn came under severe pressure in the last 10 minutes as Cove pushed forward in search of a late winner to claim all three points and maintain their title push. Fridge said: "We knew we were going to be under pressure a wee bit but we had Gregg Main in the middle of the park who ran himself into the ground. Wayne Mackintosh who is just back after four weeks out and he again put in a great shift. Scott Nicholl came on for the last 10 minutes or so and he has been out for the last seven months. Willie Ridgers settled into the team and had a couple of very good saves as well. We had a patched up team today if the truth be known with the seven boys who are out but I said to the boys who are involved today that they have a chance today to show what they can do. But all in all, we're delighted."
The manager added: "We have now got four games to go and we want to finish as high as possible in the league and we came here to have a go. We finished seventh last season and in the four games that are left, we want to get as many points as possible.
"We had that six or seven-week break around Christmas which really knocked us out of our stride. But I feel over the last few weeks including the Brora game we have been looking a bit more like ourselves and coming a bit more into it. We are scoring goals again and it does make a big difference although I feel we had three or four better chances in the first half today that if we had taken, might have made things a bit easier for us."