Clach blow 6 goalscoring chances as Keith deliver 3rd straight defeat for Conor Gethins’ side in the Highland League
Clach manager Conor Gethins admits he was jointly culpable as an abundance of goalscoring chances were fluffed against Keith.
The Lilywhites missed six decent opportunities and failed to score for the third game running.
Cammy Wilson’s finish for the hosts, just before half-time, also ensured the Merkinch men passed up the chance to move to within a point of third place in the table.
Gethins, an emergency substitute at Kynoch Park, will never point the finger at strikers who get into good positions but fail to net.
But he admits the match is the kind of occasion where Clach need to emerge victorious if they are to have serious ambitions of finishing in the top four or five in the table.
“It was down to poor finishing, to be honest,” the former Nairn County goalscorer said. “We probably had six clearcut chances, but couldn’t take them. It is pretty much the story of our season.
“We’ve been playing really well and been on top in a lot of games, but we’re just not sticking away the chances.”
There is no shortage of potential firepower. Previously prolific pairing James Anderson and Andy Macrae led the attack at the weekend, with Allan Macphee and Troy Cooper in the wide areas.
With collective responsibility, blame is shared - with even the management team not immune.
“I’ll never knock players for missing chances, it is just that it seems to be happening on a bit too much of a regular basis,” Gethins said.
“On Saturday, I had to put myself on the bench and came on and missed a chance, so I also contributed to the poor finishing.
“James has been excellent for us. Andy is one of the Highland League’s most prolific scorers and has been terrific in the last couple of games - his workrate, everything.
“But we do need to start taking more of our chances. We’ll work on it and it will come for us, I’m sure.”
Clach remain just four points behind third top Banks o’Dee and have games in hand on two of the teams above them.
Approaching a busy run of games - with Lossiemouth on Saturday, Brora on Wednesday and Nairn County the following weekend - Gethins added: “We do need to look to be winning games against sides lower in the table. The boys know that themselves.
“We’ve had a really good first half of the season although in fairness Keith are a completely different side now.
“Craig Ewen has brought about a lot of positive changes at Kynoch Park. They have now won four in a row, including beating Buckie Thistle before they played us.
“It is a tough spell coming up, to be honest, but we’re capable of taking some good points from those matches.”
