Allan Hale experienced Morrison Motors (Turriff) Aberdeenshire Shield success as a player – now he’d like to do the same as a manager with Huntly.
The Black and Golds face Turriff United at Christie Park in round one.
As a player Hale was part of the Fraserburgh squad that won the Shield in 2012.
He said: “The cups are very important to us. The Aberdeenshire Shield is a great competition and I was fortunate enough to win it as a player.
“It would be great to experience that as a manager, but we know it will be a tough game against Turriff.
“But hopefully we can be the team that puts in the better performance to get through.”
Turriff have only won once this season, but manager Dean Donaldson hopes they can find some form in a competition they’ve won three times.
He added: “You want to make a go of it in these competitions and getting to finals is what you want to do.
“Three or four games and can you can be there. We’ll need to try to put together a good run, which we haven’t managed yet this season, if we are to do it.
“Getting through to the next round would be a boost for us just now.”
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Keith have belief
Elsewhere, Keith host Aberdeen University at Kynoch Park and Maroons boss Craig Ewen wants his players to believe they can go all the way.
He said: “The cups are very important for us, we’ve got to try to win them.
“It’s four ties and at the end of it you can be sitting with silverware.
“Those ties won’t be easy to win, but it’s a short route and the chance is there for every side in the tournament.
“This tie is the first step and hopefully we can get through.
“Aberdeen University will be right up for it and thinking it’s an opportunity to get through.
“We’ve got to hit the right levels and play at the right tempo to get the business done.”
University boss Steven Brownlie believes his side are underdogs, but said: “Our league form hasn’t been great due to Covid.
“It’s only in the last couple of weeks that we’ve had a full squad.
“To go into a game like this in those circumstances would have been challenging.
“But hopefully with the squad we’ve got now we can give Keith a game and put in a good performance, even though we’re underdogs.”