Clach midfielder appreciative of second chance in Highland League – after 3½ year fight to save his career
Rorie Macleod is raring to go in the Scottish Cup – and will never take those occasions for granted.
The Clach midfielder’s nightmarish three and a half years on crutches and in rehab from two career-threatening injuries ensures as much.
In derby action, the Lilywhites clash with Nairn County at Grant Street Park in the first round, with both dreaming of progression to a lucrative glamour-tie.
For Macleod, who has seized his second chance in the senior game with both hands, it is one to relish after the fight to save his playing career.
Continued fine form this season earned the energetic playmaker a man of the match award on Saturday, albeit in a 3-0 defeat to a powerful Banks o’ Dee.
The self-employed online personal trainer originally tore the meniscus in his knee during a training session in 2018.
Battling back after a few months out, he suffered the crushing blow of rupturing his full anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in the same knee in his first training session back.
So began a painstaking recovery process, with Macleod waiting until December 2019 to receive an operation.
It took admirable grit and strength of character to get himself back playing, first at minnows Burghead and then, finally, with his boyhood club with a three-year deal in June, 2023
“I was out on loan with juniors Inverness City when I suffered the meniscus injury, the lesser of the two, I had no idea what was in store,” the 26-year-old recalled.
“In my first training session back, I did the full ACL. It was horrible. I was devastated.
“I would never have chucked it because I’ve always played football, but it was hard going – really hard going, to be honest.
“I’ve been given a second chance and I’m never going to take that for granted. I appreciate every moment.
“Even away from football, it has changed my mindset in terms of trying to apply myself the best I can at everything I do.
“It is always in the back of your mind it could happen again, but I do a lot of hard work on strength and fitness away from football, trying to give myself the best possible chance of it not happening again.”
Experiencing such a low in life and football might have been all the tougher during the pandemic. Strangely, though, the lockdowns, relative isolation and the suspension of competitive matches, helped Macleod.
He explained: “I was probably one of the few people on the planet who didn’t mind Covid happening. It gave me a chance to do all my rehab properly, while football was stopped.
“It was really weird, but knowing everybody wasn’t playing made me all the more determined to get back to the level I’d been playing at.”
All of those experiences ensure manager Conor Gethins has a driven, appreciative individual performing in the heart of his midfield.
Smarting a little at the 3-0 Banks o’ Dee defeat on Saturday in Merkinch, Macleod stressed: “I don’t think we started as well as we could have. We’ve been playing some decent stuff recently, so it was disappointing.
“But we’ve just got to go again. It is a massive game on Saturday.
“I was saying to the boys, I’m delighted that we’ve got that kind of game – it’s a derby, with everyone fired up for it and there’s going to be a real buzz.
“From where we were last year, to where we are now, it is a massive improvement.
“The signings we’ve brought in have been really helpful with that, but we’re well aware Nairn have quality as well.
“We’ve already played them twice and both were close games, them winning in the league and us in the North of Scotland Cup.
“They have quality, but so do we - and we’ll be confident going into it.”
Last year, Clach progressed to the second round of the Scottish Cup where they were valiant 3-1 losers to a Peterhead side in fine form.
Macleod said: “We got beaten 3-1, but it was 2-1 right up to the 70th minute or so, and Peterhead were top of League Two at the time.
“From where we were at the time, we did really well.”
“Our defensive improvement has been massive for us. The signings of goalkeeper Joe Malin and central defender Josh Meekings have been immense, with their level of experience and where they have been in their careers.
“Playing in the middle of the park with those two guys behind me, constantly talking, has been really good for me.”
