A view from the touchline last Saturday as Lossiemouth and Strathspey Thistle battle it out in the Highland League Cup, a late penalty giving the visitors the victory.I can't quite put my finger on why I enjoy watching football in this part of the world so much but there is something about it, perhaps the way that clubs such as Lossie, Keith, Rothes and others are at the heart of their local communities, or perhaps by knowing that in having a pint in the social club a couple of streets away and then walking across to Grant Park you are doing what many have done before.
Strathspey Thistle's history begins later but, as at Lossiemouth, a hard-working group of volunteers are working full-time to improve year-on-year and put foundations in place for a brighter future.
The threat of relegation out of the league, due to the expansion of the Scottish pyramid system, is a new one, however, and one that both these clubs are fighting hard to avoid this season, Strathspey's victory, as welcome as it was, would have been sweeter if it had brought three points with it.
Football goes back even further at Forres Mechanics, founded in 1884 and founder members of the Highland League, although not quite at this exact spot as Mosset Park was moved to accomodate the A96 on which traffic was pretty constant during Wednesday night's North of Scotland Cup victory against Strathspey.
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