Nairn County manager Steven Mackay stunned by defensive lapses in defeat to Inverurie Locos
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It was baffling, “freakish” in Steven Mackay’s view, but certainly self-inflicted and deserved.
The 6-0 battering Nairn County took from lower table Inverurie Locos was a real jaw-dropper on the back of superb Highland League form stretching back to late September.
Mackay blamed an extraordinary series of defensive errors for the Wee County’s spectacular capitulation after 10 powerful performances on the trot.
The only blemishes in that run had been a 3-3 home draw to title-challenging Banks O’Dee and a slender 1-0 defeat to defending champions Brechin City.
Nairn will look to bounce back with a much-improved display against Lossiemouth tomorrow evening at Station Park to set themselves up for a huge test on Saturday at home to Buckie.
“Without our mistakes, I’d have been disappointed with 2-0 by the break, to be honest – even 1-0 would have been harsh,” manager Mackay said.
“We just made so many errors and we got punished for them – and deservedly so, as they were horrendous.
“We gave away a penalty for no reason and played it out from the back when it wasn’t on to do so, before giving the ball away.
“A lot of errors came together in the same game and that’s why it ended up being six. I didn’t see it coming at all. It was totally freakish. I went there quietly confident we would get a result from a tight game, but if you look back at the goals, every single one was a defensive error or a poor decision, individually or collectively.
“Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong.
“When we were on the front foot, we looked quite nice, tidy, and were trying to do the right thing.
“But you can’t get away with defending the way we did and we were certainly punished.”
Ross Tokely’s second yellow card in the second half made matters worse, meaning he will miss tomorrow’s visit of the Coasters.
A huge February lies in store for Nairn, with seven games and 21 vital points up for grabs.
Mackay, though, has added four quality signings in January – Jamaican winger Horace Ormsby (28), fellow wide man Harry Hennem (19) from Caley Thistle and central midfielder Kenny MacInnes (20) from Elgin City, while sealing a loan deal for Elgin attacker Ben Barron (19).
“I’m really happy with the business we’ve done in the last couple of weeks, bringing in the players we have done,” Mackay said.
“We are certainly better-placed to cope with the weight of matches.
“We have a strong squad, competition for places, and hopefully that will stand us in good stead for a tough run of games.
“We’re looking to pick up a good number of points and consolidate where we are in the league.
“We’re looking to flush it out of the system with a much better team performance against Lossiemouth and then set ourselves up for another big game against Buckie Thistle on Saturday.”
