So, so massive! Walking in a County Wunderland – escape from the Dudgeon with 3 points – pictures

Brora 3 Nairn 4

To some of the faithful it felt slightly incredulous that this fixture was on today, but sure enough, the twitter feeds came through almost immediately after the pitch inspection at 8 a.m. in Brora. The further north we travelled on Ken’s yellow submarine the further the snow line went up the hills. A wee drop on the top of Ben Bhraggie though, (through a zoom lens you can almost see how some folk have been chipping awayat the controversial monument at the top). It’s usually this part of the world that gets the worst of a cold spell while we bask in the heat but role reversal today as two games were playable on north pitches. Eventually we reached our destination and some pre match craic in the Social Club.

Having come from a weather zone where you need a pickaxe to get leeks out of the ground just now it was surprising to see the green, green turf of Brora. It might have been soft underfoot but the wind-chill kicked in and we soon felt at home so to speak.

Initially, maybe the County showed Brora too much respect or perhaps it was just the effect of this stop-start season but Brora’s Zander Sutherland (latest of the megabucks signings) goal off a Golabek rebound had the unfortunate air of inevitability. Four minutes later (28 into the game to be precise) he got his debut second. It looked grim until Connor slotted a penalty reply just before half time.

We went for a cuppa slightly dazed and hopeful Les would perform some dressing room magic. But it was to be a hat-trick for the home side’s new boy straight after the start. Philosophical tones spiced the conversation now amongst the Wee County contingent in the enclosure. Conor Gethins was again about to put Nairn back into this game with a delivery onto John Cameron’s head in the 53^rd minute. We began to dream of our favourite result (à la Scottish Cup), that is to say classic, dramatic, 3-3’s. Around the 80^th minute our dreams came true and a draw from the jaws of defeat looked a possibility with Craig MacMillan’s goal, even though Brora still were capable of dangerous moves. So the vocal mass of the County supporters made their way to the back of the Brora goal (convenient for an exit to the Social Club before the trek home). Joy of joys was to come as Craig MacMillan got his second courtesy of today’s goal maker Conor Gethins. Ecstatic scenes as the visiting support voices filled the park.

It was beyond superb, it was a great escape, it meant so much, it felt better than the 6-0 at home, it felt better than the draws against higher league teams in the cup. This was our calling card to the league – NCFC are still in the title race. Bring on Lossie next Saturday!

Pictures from club photographer Donald Matheson. Individual pictures here.