Brora Rangers manager Ally MacDonald was pleased his side showed their ruthless side in their 4-0 victory against Forres Mechanics.
After both sides impressed in the previous round, it was Brora who kept the cup run going to advance into the semi-finals of the GPH Builders Merchants Highland League Cup.
MacDonald said: “We dealt well with anything they threw at us.
“It was good to get in at half-time with the lead.
“In the second half we wanted to get the second goal because we want to be ruthless, and that is maybe what we’ve lacked in one or two games this season.
“We had that today, and maybe we could have even had more goals.”
In the opening stages of the game, the strong wind was being used to the visitors’ advantage.
Forres were pushing high and putting Brora under pressure while trying to find that opening goal.
However, it was the hosts who found the breakthrough in the 22nd minute.
Today’s Clynelish Man of the Match Andy Macrae receiving bottle of Clynelish from John Robertson. pic.twitter.com/Dc3OzgN0am
— Brora Rangers (@brorarangers) September 9, 2023
A stepover from Max Ewan took him past his opponent enabling him to cross the ball low and hard into the penalty box for Andy Macrae to net against his old club.
At the start of the second half it was Brora’s turn to use the conditions to their advantage.
In the first five minutes, the Cattachs had a header just loop over the bar, Dale Gillespie had a shot that rebounded off the post, and if it were not for Andrew Skinner getting the faintest touch on the ball, Paul Brindle would surely have had a tap in.
On the hour mark Brora were awarded a penalty for a foul on Andy Macrae with Brindle sending Lee Herbert the wrong way from the spot to double the lead.
It wasn’t long until the home side added a third with a Gillespie free kick finding Mark Nicolson who rolled the ball home.
The fourth and final goal was a contender for goal of the competition, if not goal of the season.
Gregor MacDonald, who had just been subbed on, used his first touch to set himself and his second to thunder the ball over and past Herbert.
Forres assistant manager Stephen Maclean said: “We are disappointed because we have the belief we can compete against teams in the top six.
“I thought Brora were outstanding today and by not taking our chances in the first half, it made it very difficult for us.”
Brechin City 2-0 Inverurie Locos
Brechin City manager Andy Kirk admitted that his team can play a lot better after City clinched their place in the semi-finals of the GPH Builders Merchants Highland League Cup following a 2-0 victory over a spirited Inverurie Locos side at Glebe Park.
“The heat made it a difficult game for both sets of players,” he said.
“It was a wee bit of start-stop today and we never really got into the rhythm we normally play with.
“The important thing though was that the boys got it over the line despite not being anything like their best and we’re now in the semi-final of the Highland League Cup which is very pleasing.
“The effort the boys put in every week in training is phenomenal and they’re always trying to improve so it’s natural to be a bit disappointed when they don’t quite reach the levels we know they’re capable of.
“But the most important thing is winning matches and I’m pleased that we’ve kept the run going with another victory.”
Onwards to the semi-finals 👊🏽 pic.twitter.com/zicoGs7YL2
— Brechin City FC (@BrechinCityFC) September 9, 2023
City passed up two glorious opportunities to grab the lead in the opening 45 minutes with both Grady McGrath and Liam Duell missing gilt-edged opportunities but the pair made up for that seven minutes into the second-half when Duell slotted the ball home from a couple of yards out after a Fraser Macleod cross had been flicked into his path by McGrath.
And McGrath also got on the scoresheet with 11 minutes remaining when he blasted home from the penalty spot after Macleod had been upended in the box by Glen Donald.
Locos boss Andy Low said: “I felt that it was a very competitive and even game. particularly in the first-half.
“After the break we sat too slow and too deep and allowed Brechin to get on the ball in the middle of the park and we just never got going after that.
“It was disappointing after the work the boys put in in the opening 45 minutes when we worked hard to restrict the space Brechin had.
“We knew what the gameplan was going into the second-half but the first five to ten minutes killed us with Brechin starting really strongly and we never really recovered.”
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