Ronnie Sharp desperate for Nairn County to open scoring as trend emerges from winless run at start of Highland League season
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Getting the first goal in matches will be key to Nairn County picking up their first win of the Highland League season, according to manager Ronnie Sharp.
Conceding to Formartine United with just 17 seconds on the clock meant it was always going to be an uphill battle last Saturday in a 3–1 defeat, but Sharp is more concerned about a growing trend in his team’s matches.
In all four league matches the Wee County have played so far this season, as well as the North of Scotland Cup match against Elgin, Nairn have let in the opening goal.
In fact, Sharp’s men have only been in front for two minutes across all of those games, and the manager says it is an issue that needs to be addressed quickly.
“We were just on the back foot straight away (against Formartine),” he said.
“We’re conceding first in just about every game, so we’re making life difficult for ourselves. I’m hoping it’s just a concentration thing, but it’s happening regularly. We just have to work our way through it.
“We can’t afford to keep giving goals away. It’s just basic mistakes at the moment, so it’s very hard. We did all right for a couple of games, but we still need to do a lot better.
“The problem is that we haven’t scored first in any of the games. That’s the problem, we need to score first.
“We’ve been chasing every game, and I think we’ve only been ahead once against Rothes, but we lost a goal a couple of minutes later, so that’s the crux of it all.”
Unlike technical mishaps that can be stamped out of players through drills on the training ground, it can be difficult to coach the mental side of the game.
That said, other than individual errors or lapses in concentration, there were still positives for Sharp to take out of the 3–1 defeat to Formartine for his side last weekend.
Nairn were significantly more solid at the back after half time, and a late consolation from Angus Dey meant that they got the better of the second 45 minutes.
“Letting those goals in is a problem, because after we went behind we were competitive,” he added.
“We made a mistake again to give away a penalty, and the same thing happened – we lost another goal a minute or two later. We have to do a lot better in that sense, because it was a pretty even game in between the goals.
“We just can’t give chances to a team like Formartine, especially not easy chances.
“Once they’re ahead, their tails go up. We battled hard in the second half, but the game was already gone.
“It’s all about doing the simple things well, the basics, to not concede. Then if you get chances, you’ve got to take them.”
