Brora Rangers boss Craig Campbell was pleased to warm up for the GPH Builders Merchants Highland League Cup final with an emphatic victory against Turriff United.
The Cattachs triumphed 7-1 at the Haughs to remain fourth in the Breedon Highland League.
This weekend Brora will face Buckie Thistle in the final of the League Cup.
Campbell said: “I thought we were good in the first half, but became a little bit wasteful in the second half.
“But I’m delighted with the three points and with Andrew Macrae getting a hat-trick going forward to the Highland League Cup final.”
Brora blitzed Turriff in the first 45 minutes with Ali Sutherland firing them ahead before Andrew Macrae doubled the lead.
Colin Williamson and Martin Maclean then got in on the scoring act, before Macrae added a fifth before the interval.
After the break, Owen Kinsella pulled one back for United, but Jordan MacRae headed home Brora’s sixth before hitting the crossbar and Andrew Macrae completed his hat-trick late on.
Turriff manager Dean Donaldson said: “Being honest, we’ve always got one of those games in us at the moment.
“In the first half, I thought it was men against boys – we were chasing shadows.
“In the second half, I thought we were better, but Brora did make changes and rested some players.”
Coasters beat County
Lossiemouth manager Joe Russell was thrilled to defeat Nairn County 1-0 at Station Park.
Connor Macaulay’s left-footed finish from the edge of the box early in the second half was the difference between the sides as the Coasters recorded their eighth league win of the campaign.
Russell said: “It was a game of two halves. We were strong in the first half and should have scored a couple of goals.
“But Nairn came out all guns blazing in the second half and had more possession than we would have liked.
“However, they didn’t have many clear-cut chances and we managed to see the game out, which was really good.”
For the second successive game, Nairn drew a blank, and boss Ronnie Sharp said: “It wasn’t a great game, but we had a few chances and, again, we didn’t take them.
“The game is all about scoring and we can’t score, which has been the case for the last four or five weeks.
“We’re really struggling on that front – it’s just not happening for us.”