Brora Rangers manager Craig Campbell was pleased to move up to second in the Breedon Highland League after they blew Huntly away with an impressive first half display.
Jordan MacRae bagged a hat-trick in the first period and Ali Sutherland netted late on to give the Cattachs a 4-0 win at Dudgeon Park.
Brora are now just a point behind league leaders Fraserburgh with fixtures against Rothes, the Broch and Formartine United to come in the next three weeks.
Boss Campbell said: “First half we were excellent, we passed the ball really well at a good tempo. We got the ball wide, got good balls into the box and Jordan scored a good hat-trick.
“I’m delighted with that, in the second half we made a few changes and changed the formation a little bit and I though we lost our edge.
“The game was dead after half an hour and that was probably the best we’ve played in a long while the way we moved the ball.
“Some of the intricate passing in the wider areas and around the box was exceptional.
“Jordan has been in excellent form the last few weeks and if I had one criticism it was that he wasn’t scoring enough goals.
“But he’s thrown that back in my face and credit to him for that. We’re up to second and we know December is a massive month for us with tough fixtures.”
Huntly struggled to get to grips with Brora in the first half and MacRae notched a hat-trick inside half an hour.
In the 10th minute the striker fired home a free-kick from 20 yards having been fouled by Glenn Murison.
Within a few minutes of the opener Black and Golds goalkeeper Tom Ritchie denied Sutherland and Colin Williamson, while Matthew Wright shot over after intricate build-up play involving MacRae and Sutherland.
Midway through the first period MacRae was on target again, rising highest to head home Gregor MacDonald’s cross from the left.
In the 27th minute another incisive Cattachs attack brought the third goal with Sutherland reaching the bye-line on the right and pulling the ball back for MacRae to finish from close range.
Although it was MacRae who got on the scoresheet, Sutherland was just as influential and was a constant threat on the right flank.
In the second period Brora kept pushing for more goals, but a mixture of wasteful finishing and saves from Ritchie denied them.
MacDonald’s dink was blocked by the custodian, who also held a Mark Nicolson header.
Williamson did beat Ritchie with a header from MacDonald’s corner, however, Murison was on hand to clear off the line.
Ally MacDonald fired into the side-netting and a Sutherland effort was deflected over, while Ritchie also made stops to thwart Sutherland and Dale Gillespie.
With three minutes left Sutherland netted Brora’s fourth with a low finish into the left corner from the edge of the box.
Opportunities for Huntly amounted to a Cameron Heslop break in behind on 54 minutes before the midfielder was crowded out as he tried to round goalkeeper Joe Malin and a tame Joel MacBeath effort straight at the goalkeeper in the closing stages.
The Black and Golds have now lost seven successive league matches.
Manager Allan Hale said: “It definitely knocks confidence and that’s a natural thing when you’re on a bad run.
“We’re a young team and we’re still naive in areas, but the players are working hard collectively and we’re working hard with the players to try to improve them.
“We’re always learning every week and we’re not building a team for tomorrow we’re building a team for the future.
“We were well beaten by a team that’s just better than us. That’s the most simplistic way to summarise the game.
“We got picked off with ease in the first half an hour. We changed one or two things to restrict the space they had to play through us.
“Brora created a lot of chances against us and I thought our work-rate was really poor first half along with our composure when we got the ball.”
Brora Rangers (4-4-2) – Malin 7, Kelly 7 (Pickles 63), Nicolson 7, Williamson 7, A MacDonald 7; Sutherland 8, Gillespie 7, G MacDonald 7, Ewan 7 (Meekings 63); Wright 7 (Maclean 55), J MacRae 9.
Subs not used – A Macrae.
Huntly (4-1-3-2) – Ritchie 6, Jack, 6, Clark 6, Dalling 6, Johnstone 6; Murison 6; Buchan 6 (Matthew 86), MacIver 6, Heslop 5 (McKeown 66); Dangana 5 (Alberts 74), Macbeath 5.
Subs not used – Thoirs, Hay, Storrier, Imbert-Thomas.
Referee – Duncan Nicolson 7.
Man of the match – Jordan MacRae.