The last two competition winners – Fraserburgh and Banks o’ Dee – have been paired in the first round of the 2022/23 Evening Express Aberdeenshire Cup.
Thursday night’s draw for the Aberdeenshire and District Football Association-organised tournament threw up the mouthwatering tie, which is scheduled for Bellslea Park on July 27 (8pm kick-off).
Thirteen clubs have entered this year’s Shire Cup, and the other first round ties will see Dyce Juniors host Inverurie Loco Works, and Hermes welcome Deveronvale, while Keith will face Huntly in a Strathbogie derby clash at Kynoch Park, and Buckie Thistle will travel to Formartine United.
Aberdeen’s reserves return to the competition, and were one of the three teams handed a bye into the quarter-final of the draw, alongside Junior side Aberdeen University and Turriff United – who will start their campaign against each other in the last-eight.
Keith or Huntly know a win in the first round will see them host the Dons in the quarters.
‘We hope to get the competition moving quite quickly’
The 2022/23 Evening Express Aberdeenshire Cup draw was carried out by two representatives of charity Friends of Anchor – chairman Sir Jim Milne and committee member Caty Smith – who accepted a donation on behalf of Friends of Anchor from the ADFA at the start of proceedings.
Cove Rangers’ Balmoral Stadium was the venue for the draw, although the Championship new boys and League One Peterhead have both abstained from taking part in the tournament for another year.
ADFA secretary Willie Young is determined to get the Shire Cup finished in the first half of the campaign, as is tradition, for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic struck.
Due to the long-reaching disruption from the pandemic, the 2020/21 final – which Fraserburgh won -didn’t take place until the 2021/22 Highland League season had begun.
This then meant the 2021/22 Shire Cup showpiece, where Banks o’ Dee lifted the silverware, was only able to take place in February.
Young said: “We’ll see how things go. There’s a couple of good ties and we hope to get the competition moving quite quickly.
“It’s good to see Aberdeen FC back in, and Banks o’ Dee drawing Fraserburgh in the first round is really exciting.
“There’s a few opportunities there for teams depending what happens – but there will be no easy ties.”
The 2022/23 Evening Express Aberdeenshire Cup draw in full:
First round (to be played Wednesday, July 27 at 8pm):
Fraserburgh v Banks o’ Dee
Dyce v Inverurie Loco Works
Hermes v Deveronvale
Keith v Huntly
Formartine United v Buckie Thistle
Quarter-finals (to be played Wednesday, August 17 at 8pm):
Formartine or Buckie v Hermes or Deveronvale
Fraserburgh or Dee v Dyce or Inverurie
Aberdeen University v Turriff United
Keith or Huntly v Aberdeen