Lossiemouth and Brora Rangers shared the points having both netted in the town end of the park as the Coasters rounded off their season by opening up a five point gap with the bottom club Fort William who still have six games left to play.

Brora opened the game the brighter of the two teams and as early as the first minute Mark Kennedy had a chance to lift the ball over Craig Masterton but he failed to grasp the opportunity.

With ten minutes on the clock Aaron Smith advanced forward from the right back position and swung in a cross that evaded both attackers and defenders until it arrived at the feet of Ricky Wardrop about two yards out from the far post. The former Forres Thistle man seemed destined to score but he somehow sliced his shot wide from point blank range.

The breakthrough for the Cattachs did arrive just minutes later and it was another delivery from the right which caused the damage. A free kick zipped almost directly at the back post by Aaron Christie was met by the head of Mark Kennedy who was the only player who attacked the ball and his simple glance found the corner of the net.

The Coasters came slowly began to come to life and came within a whisker of a leveller when a counter attack saw them get men over and when a ball in from the left across the edge of the box arrived at the feet of Martin McMullen he hit a low shot which was diverted onto the post by the right hand of Michael Gray.

Talking of hands, there was a major moment of relief for Iain Innes when he got away with using his arm to control a ball in the box before making a clearance before Lossie went close again.

Once again Martin McMullen was the man in the right place, winning the ball at the edge of the box and going through on goals but his blast was parried into the air by Michael Gray and when Kyle Stewart followed in Iain Innes was on hand to clear the ball off the line

The second half saw the talking points mount up with misses, moments of controversy and a goal. The first saw Shawn Scott given a run in at goal but under pressure from the covering defender the ball got away from him and was claimed by Michael Gray who received a hefty kick from the striker who was lucky not to be booked for his troubles.

Broras John Smith passed up a couple of great chances to win the game mainly thanks to fine set piece deliveries, one of which saw him rise at the back post only to knock his header wide of the target.

At the other end sub Sean McIntosh had a great chance to net after good work on the left by Kyle Stewart involving Graham Wilson and Shawn Scott culminated in a ball to the back post for the former City man who blasted over.

The leveller deservedly arrived with sixteen minutes to go. Martin McMullen collected the ball outside the box and although his first touch seemed to heavy he got to the ball just before John Smith and drilled it low past Michael Gray and into the net, via an outstretched Brora leg.

Smith was injured trying to make the tackle and had to leave the field which lead to a bizarre celebration where the goalscorer seemed more concerned about the opposition defender than the fact he had just scored.

Midfielder Sam Mackay very nearly blotted his copybook when he clearly slapped Craig Morrison across the face with a flailing arm moments after a tangle for the ball. Incredibly the referee gave the player a warning instead of a red card much to the anger of the Lossie players.

What followed was a clear reaction to this incident with the a number of fouls and moments of dissent following as the dander had clearly risen. Despite all this there was still a chance at both ends of the park.

Craig Masterton came to Lossies rescue with a fine save to deny Scott Mackay-Steven after Sam Mackay had ran 70 yards with the ball at his feet on a bobbly surface before laying his team mate in.

Then at the other Steven Dixon fluffed a left footed shot straight at the keeper when he found himself in space, six yards from goal with only Michael Gray to beat. The skipper was clearly disappointed at missing the chance to give Lossie a winning end to the campaign.

In the end the niggling fouls which had risen in numeracy saw Shawn Scott and Kevin Macleod booked then, with just moments left, Shawn Scott was yellow carded again for showing a bit of frustration at an offside decision although it appeared initially as though the ref had forgotten the player had already been booked, a fact he was soon alerted to and the red was duly shown.

Full Time: Lossiemouth 1 Brora Rangers 1
Reporter: Kevan McIntosh