The Forres Mechanics teenager who loves a derby goal against Lossiemouth.

Kieran Hayllar scored another spectacular header at his favourite away ground of Grant Park on Saturday to help keep the North Cup holders in the competition.

The 19-year-old, who netted one of the goals of last season with a brilliant diving header in a 3-0 league win at Lossie, repeated the feat in the same changing rooms end of the ground.

He went on to score one of Cans’ five penalties to send the reigning champs into the semis of this year’s tourney.

That came against a Lossiemouth team who had already defeated Forres twice this term in the league and League Cup.

“I was just thinking about it after the game that I seem to like scoring there,” said the former Elgin City and Ross County striker.

“You saw in our reaction in the game how much everybody was up for it. You don't want to get beat by your local rivals three times in a row.”

Lossie stopper Lewis McAndrew, who scored the penalty winner in the last Grant Park meeting between the sides in August, repeated the feat with a spot kick opener on 11 minutes.

Hayllar’s superb header tied things up after half an hour, and it stayed at 1-1 until the 90 minutes.

McAndrew had scored six penalties out of six for the Coasters last season, so he was the last player expected to miss in the shoot-out - but Forres keeper Sean McCarthy parried his opening kick.

Jack Grant, Lewis Mackenzie, Ryan MacLeman, Hayllar and Thomas Bremner all scored for Mechanics, sending them into the last four and a tie against either Ross County or Wick Academy.

Hayllar has gradually been getting more game time for Cans and has rewarded them with some important goals.

He netted the stoppage winner in the 2-1 success at home to Buckie Thistle, and struck again nine days later with the 72nd minute clincher away to Strathspey Thistle.

The Elgin-based attacker then made it three goals in five games with a consolation strike against champions Brora Rangers.

Last term he netted in both league matches against Lossie, and also scored in wins over Wick Academy and Rothes - the club he scored his maiden Forres goal against in 2024.

Hayllar would dearly love Forres to reach the North Cup final for the second year in a row.

“We’re just taking it game by game, and I’ll try and chip in with goals when I can,” he said.

“As long as the performances are good and the team keeps winning games, then hopefully we can get to another cup final.

“I never got to play in the last one, so we’ll be trying to get there again and I’d love to be involved - that would be the dream.”

Forres have lost a string of established players since defeating Clach in last year’s final, part of cost-cutting measures at the Mosset Park outfit.

But results haven’t really suffered, with the Cans sitting in the top half of the league, four points better off than they were after 15 league games last term.

“We've still got a really good team, I would say,” Hayllar said. “There's been some pretty big players going, but I think the whole team's stepped up into it.

“I feel like I've had to do that as well. It's been kind of good for me because I was one of the boys on the bench last season.

“I just want to play football at the end of the day. So, the more minutes I get, the happier I am.”

Saturday’s goal was the first time he had netted in the first half this season, because of his starting slot, and he would love to feature in the first eleven more often.

Manager Steven MacDonald will certainly have taken notice of how important his teenage prospect’s goals have been.

”I would say he knows what I can do, so he just tells me to go and play, show what I can do and try and get a goal.

“I don’t mind if anyone scores, but I'm happy to get the goals when I can and provide for the team.”

Hayllar rates last season’s diving header at Grant Park as his best goal in Highland League football, and his last-gasp Mosset Park effort against Buckie as his favourite.

“You always get a buzz from scoring goals, but when it's that late and to win a game, it's a completely different feeling.

“I didn’t start against Lossie the first two times we played them, but I know quite a few of their boys. There’s some I played with at youth level at Elgin.

“They got the upper hand, the bragging rights in the first two so we were desperate to win this one.”

For a player who started as a centre half in a youth stint at Ross County, Hayllar has certainly found his home as a forward and could be a regular goal getter in north football for many years to come.