Huntly booked their place in the Scottish Cup second round with a 3-0 home win over East of Scotland side Hill of Beath Hawthorn.
Having seen his side concede early goals in recent weeks, manager Allan Hale was pleased after Huntly netted twice in a three-minute first half spell to give themselves an early lead.
He said: “The second goal was important; it kills the momentum when you score goals that quickly. We’ve experienced that against ourselves recently.
“It was a deserved win – we were really positive and created loads of opportunists and it should’ve been more convincing than what it was and it was important to get a clean sheet after conceding 13 goals in three games.”
With 20 minutes gone at Christie Park, a Greg Buchan lofted pass in behind the visiting defence found Gavin Elphinstone who gathered the ball before lifting a shot past the keeper for his fourth of the season and Huntly’s opener.
Three minutes later, a long throw from Alexander Thoirs was not dealt with by the opposition defence and it dropped kindly for Caiden-Imbert-Thomas to score from close range for his second goal in as many games.
The Haw’s looked to get back in the game and came close when Calum Anderson’s shot was blocked by Euan Storrier at his near post.
Huntly made it three after 62 minutes. Greg Buchan sent in a corner and the ball fell for defender Kyle Dalling, who made no mistake with his finish.
After losing to Keith in last season’s Scottish Cup, it was a second successive exit to a Highland league side for Hill of Beath. Manager John Mitchell admitted the early goals conceded were costly for his side.
He said: “The first goal for them was good, their midfield caught us out at the back, but the second one was a basic goal to lose. We warned the players about set-pieces and they’ve misplaced a header defending a long throw and they’ve finished from it.
“We said at half-time the third goal would be important and, again, we’ve lost another goal from a set-piece and a basic defensive error.”
