Rob Roy Lose Out On 9 Goal Thriller!

Rob Roy 4–5 Gairdoch United Gold

A thrilling, end-to-end encounter saw us narrowly edged out by a single goal. For the second consecutive week, familiar errors and another second-half collapse—conceding three goals in just eight minutes—proved costly.

The first half mirrored last week’s pattern: evenly matched, with Gairdoch starting stronger and deservedly taking the lead after 9 minutes. That sparked us into life. A well-worked move from the back saw Lucas slide Ollie in wide, who picked out Aiden. He shifted it to Ace, who calmly slotted home. From there, we took control, creating several chances to pull ahead. A superb through ball from Keir found Aiden, who rounded the keeper and finished expertly—despite taking a knock in the process. We looked the more likely to extend our lead, but just before the break, a cheap turnover in possession was punished by a brilliant long-range strike, sending us in level at 2–2.

The second half began evenly, but we soon lost our shape and Gairdoch took full advantage scoring 3 goals in an 8 minute period but credit to the boys for rallying late.

What looked like a consolation goal from Ollie—after a great ball from Lucas—gave us a lift. We struck again in the 75th minute when Zach’s excellent delivery was turned in by a Gairdoch defender. Deep into added time, we had two golden chances to equalise. Aiden broke through and was pulled down, earning a red card for the defender, the resulting free kick we just choose the wrong option and despite further opportunities to deliver into the box and strike at goal, a lack of composure saw those chances go begging. To be fair, an equaliser would’ve been a real escape act.

As with last week, no knee-jerk reactions. We’ve faced last season’s top two in back-to-back games—arguably the toughest possible start. This week’s focus was on shape and beating the press, which showed in the first half and even led to a goal. We also trialled a new formation, and we’ll keep building on both fronts. The boys also need to realise that cheap free kicks and unopposed shots on goal are absolutely killing us at the moment but there are enough signs there to make us confident results will follow. Friday night under the lights in the Scottish Cup seems like the perfect opportunity to get our season back on track.

Man of the Match: Aiden

A welcome return to form. One goal, one assist, and unlucky not to add more. His pace in behind was a constant threat—Gairdoch struggled to contain him. Well played, Aiden.