From the opening whistle it was obvious that both these teams had good speed and were able to move the ball well up through the mid-field.  What wasn't immediately apparent was what would set these two teams apart for nearly the entire duration of the game.  According to the statistics, these teams appeared fairly evenly matched.  Nairn was coming in at 5-0-4 and Nor'West was sporting a 4-4-1 record.  The two teams were close in the standings and both had respectable positive plus/minus ratings.  And upon review of the scoring list it could be seen that Nairn's top striker, T. Hutchinson (# 14 red) with 10 goals in 10 weeks of play was well atop the division standings.  One might wonder if Nairn would run away with the game on this basis alone.  But indeed this was not the case. Even with the top striker, and an advantage in size, as well as age, Nairn would not come close to winning this game, and would have to face the reality of another shutout as they were coming off a 2-nil loss to Middlesex a week earlier.  At 21 minutes in it was Nor'West's Cody Easton (# 35 white) who would strike first, putting his team up 1-nil in the early going as he blew past his defensive counterpart on the left side and inserted a well placed shot into the bottom left hand corner that gave the Nairn keeper little chance.  And shortly thereafter, at 32 minutes it was Nor'West's Nick Cannella (# 3 white) with a perfectly placed corner taken from the left side, that, with a little help from the wind found its way directly into the top right hand corner of the Nairn goal.  Midway through the first half it could be seen that the main difference between these two teams was in offensive execution, if not in an outright "hunger" for scoring goals.  Although Nairn was fairly successful in breaking up plays mid-field and sending their speedy strikers downfield with the ball, they concurrently appeared somewhat hesitant in one-one-on situations and met aggressive Nor'West defenders in the zone.  This would definitely not be their recipe for success.  At one minute before the close of the half it would be Nor'West again, with their # 28 Andrew MacGregor finding the mesh as the Nairn keeper couldn't quite get his hands on a waist-high ball he was trying to handle close in at the goal line.
Coming out down three goals Nairn was in no spirit to give up in the second half.  Their good speed did not falter and they made many attempts to feed their top striker (# 14 red) the ball.  Nor'West likely knew what was coming and reinforced their defense, effectively forcing most if not all shots taken wide of the net. Nor'West strikers in turn kept the Nairn keeper just as busy in the second half as in the first.  Their advantage in terms of generating offensive plays was evident - and it could clearly be seen why the squad in white had only went down to defeat once this year.  Even though at 57 minutes a Nor'West player was ejected on a red-card offense (as on-field tensions began to increase in the bright sun and heat), Nairn appeared to derive no advantage. At 65 minutes it was Nor'West again with their # 8 Matt Inman finding the net with a fine shot taken into the bottom of the goal after he had worked himself all alone out in front from the right side.  At this point it was 4-0 for Nor'West and it was not a deficit that Nairn could overcome.  The closest the team in red would come to scoring was a deflection off the centre of crossbar at about 73 minutes.  At the closing whistle it was Nor'West who would earn the three points, and despite the heat, in fairly fine fashion.  JHS