Greg Buchan has experienced the feel-good factor the Scottish Cup can generate and he hopes to see it again at Huntly.
The Black and Golds start their cup campaign against East of Scotland League Premier Division outfit Hill of Beath Hawthorn at Christie Park at the weekend.
For Breedon Highland League clubs the dream is to progress through the rounds and secure a tie against one of the country’s bigger clubs.
Midfielder Buchan was at Fraserburgh when they faced Rangers in the Scottish Cup in 2018.
Although the 23-year-old was an unused sub it’s an experience he looks back on fondly and one he’s eager to replicate at Huntly.
He said: “It’s a really big week for the players and the club.
“Sometimes you only need to win a couple of games – which is still difficult – and you can be facing one of the big boys.
“I experienced that at Fraserburgh when we played Rangers and that was brilliant.
“Hopefully we can have something similar at Huntly.
“The only slight disappointment for me was not getting on in the Rangers game.
“But there were guys there who had been with the club for years and deserved to be on the pitch a lot more than me.
“I was not long in the door, I was quite young and I hadn’t been playing regularly so it was one of those things.
“Hopefully at Huntly if we have a good run I’ll be on the pitch if we end up with a big tie.”
Huntly looking for return to form
Buchan moved to Huntly in the summer from Fraserburgh with hope of playing on a more regular basis.
That has been case so far this season with Buchan hoping the Blacks and Golds can get back to winning ways in the Scottish Cup after six games without a victory.
He added: “I’m really enjoying it at Huntly, we started the season quite well.
“It’s been a bit disappointing in the last few weeks that we’ve fallen away a bit against the so-called better teams.
“We would have liked to have challenged them a bit more.
“We’ve conceded a few too many goals for our liking, but hopefully we can put things right in the Scottish Cup and try to advance.
“When the draw was made we didn’t know much about Hill of Beath, but Allan Hale and Stefan Laird do their homework.
“They give us as much information as they can to allow us to prepare as best we can for the game.”