Scott Barbour will celebrate his 300th appearance for Fraserburgh tonight and the Broch striker is closing in on another milestone for the Highland League champions.
Barbour is 25 goals away from beating club legend Michael Stephen’s record of 237 goals for the club and admits the thought of eclipsing Stephen’s tally has begun to cross his mind.
He said: “Anyone who knows me will tell you I keep all my stats – well, apart from my offsides – so I know I’ve got 213 goals for the club.
“I’ve been asked a few times if beating Michael Stephen’s record of 237 is a target of mine, but to be honest it is not something I’ve ever given much thought to.
“You remember things like your 100th, 150th or 200th goal, but now I’m getting closer it has become a target to go for.
“But I don’t think about it really. I suppose I will start to as I get closer. I’m actually only 19 away from 300 in total, if you include my goals with Formartine – so I’ve done not too badly.”
Barbour was relieved his 299th appearance for the club ended with victory despite seeing his penalty saved in the shoot-out of the Evening Express Aberdeenshire Cup final against Formartine United at The Haughs on Friday.
He said: “The cup final was going to be my 300th game for the Broch, but the postponement of games due to the death of the Queen meant Friday was number 299 instead.
“It would have been nice to mark my 300th game for the club in a cup final against my former team, but I’ve only had to wait a few more days for it.”
On his miss, he joked: “Penalty shoot-outs don’t count thankfully. I said to (goalkeeper) Joe (Barbour) I wanted him to get the glory.
“I used to play with Ewan MacDonald at Formartine and he told me afterwards he had seen my penalty against Inverurie Locos and knew what I was going to do – but happily it all worked out for us in the end!”
Broch’s focus switches to league after cup win
The Broch return to the scene of their cup final success when they face Turriff United at The Haughs tonight on league business (8pm).
Barbour knows it is important his side get back to winning ways after dropping points in their recent home games in the league against Brora Rangers and Inverurie Locos.
He said: “The manager said to us after the final on Friday it was a great boost for us to have a trophy, but it’s important we kick on the league now.
“Our last two home games in particular have been disappointing as we’ve been ahead in both games and only had one point to show for it.
“They were two close games and the sort of matches where we edged it last season – we need to get back to making those tight games go our way.”
Turriff bid to bounce back from Buckie defeat
Turriff United are without midfielder Callan Gray who will miss the next fortnight due to concussion protocol following Saturday’s 7-1 defeat at Buckie Thistle.
However, striker Aaron Reid, who signed for Aberdeen on Monday and is training full-time with the Premiership club, is available as he will remain at The Haughs until January before completing his move to the Dons.
Aberdeenshire Cup runners-up Formartine United will be hoping to bounce back from their cup loss when they travel to Rothes.
Stuart Anderson’s side will be without defender Matthew McLean following his red card in the closing seconds of Friday’s final, while veteran striker Steven Mackay has departed Rothes for a return to management with Nairn County.
Wick Academy return to action after an idle weekend as they travel to Forres Mechanics.
Gordon McNab and Sean Munro are out for Gary Manson’s side, who face a Can-Cans outfit buoyed by their 4-3 win against Rothes on Saturday.
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