Keith 2 v Inverurie Loco Works 0
MAROONS DERAIL LOCOS!
“ALONG THE LINE THE TRAIN CAM’ PUFFIN’
KEITH TWO INVERURIE LOCOS NUTHIN’”!
It’s been 15 long years since Keith last defeated Inverurie Loco Works at Kynoch Park, so Wednesday night’s 5th successive league win was extra special for Kynoch Park diehards. The legendary Darren Still was manager when the Maroons defeated Locos 5-1 on 19 February 2011, and since then it’s been one solitary draw and a massive string of defeats...until now.
Conor Bird and Nathan McKeown bulged the old onion bag, whilst Craig Reid’s 24th clean sheet as Keith’s glovesman, gleaned three points which saw Craig’s Commandos leapfrog Buckie Thistle into a lofty 8th spot in the league table. Talking of manager Craig, the win saw the big guy clock up his 50th Keith victory from open play.
A chilly, windy night welcomed fans into The “Field of Dreams”, and it wasn’t long before the homesters bared their teeth, a McKeown tee up seeing Horace Ormsby’s shot being blocked for a corner. Then, with 23 minutes on the old egg timer, Bird flew high to power home a header for his 4th goal of the season – “Get in there Birdy!” we howled as we leapt up aff our seats. Super goal to break the deadlock – nae too sure about the celebration though!
With Keith dictating play, just over the half hour mark Ormsby hit the crossbar with a looping header – how unlucky was “H” not to score? Three minutes later Scotty Barron just missed out as the home side pressed on. Mind you, at the other end, Reid had to look lively to turn round a Robert Ward drive in the 37th minute.
A couple of minutes later the hone fans were treated to another blast of “Chelsea Dagger” when livewire McKeown turned quickly to blast home a low bullet drive for his 8th goal of the campaign - “Nathan, ya wee cracker!” up aff our seats again in the time honoured fashion.
Locos did show more oomph in the second half, and ten minutes in, Reid showed his mettle once again, diving quickly to his right to turn round another Ward effort.
To be perfectly honest there are no easy games in North football, and this was yet another tough tussle, making it 11 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss in the last 15 outings. The next game however promises to be a real tester when Nairn County come calling – the Wee County sitting one place and one point above Keith, making it finely balanced.
In the meantime - “Storm Maroon” continues to batter the Highland League with a vengeance!
KEITH – Reid, Barron, Craib(C Robertson 82), Bird, Spink, Gill (Ironside 82), Ormsby (Stephen 58), McKeown, Cooper (Nicol 87), To (Killoh 87), Searle. Subs unused – Smith, Addison.
Referee – D Munro
Wednesday 11th March 2026, KO 8pm
Report by Charlie Simpson