Banks o’ Dee moved up to fifth position after coming out on top of a hotly contested Harlaw Park encounter with Inverurie Locos managed for the first time by Dean Donaldson.
Despite having former Locos striker Garry Wood sent off just before half time, Dee soaked up the pressure much to the delight of co-manager Josh Winton.
He said: “I was delighted with the performance of the guys, especially after going down to ten men.
“They kept their shape and were really disciplined in their approach.
“I thought we dealt well with what Locos threw at us. We reduced them to long balls to their strikers, which we dealt with well.
“I felt we definitely had one really strong penalty appeal turned down, it was right in front of us and looked a stonewaller.
“We move on to our quarter-final clash away at Formartine in midweek in the Morrison Motors (Turriff) Aberdeenshire Shield. We expect nothing other than a really tough challenge.”
A good crowd turned out for Donaldson’s first match in charge of Locos following his move from Turriff United.
Swirling wind and heavy rain made it a tough test for both sets of players.
The opening goal in a close first half arrived in the 36th minute when Liam Morrison was short with a pass-back to Zack Ellis and Lachie MacLeod pounced to round the goalkeeper and roll the ball into an empty net.
Wood, playing his second match for Dee, was sent off against his former side on the stroke of half time. He picked up a first booking for simulation and then a second for a challenge on Paul Coutts.
Locos went close on 72 minutes when Daniel Hoban made a good save to turn away a shot on the turn by Nathan Meres before substitute Callum Duncan fired over from a Lloyd Robertson cut-back.
❗ Banks O' Dee FC are pleased to announce the loan signing of striker Dayshonne Golding from Cove Rangers FC. Dayshonne will be included in the match day squad for todays SHFL fixture away against Inverurie Locos FC. Welcome to the club, Dayshonne! pic.twitter.com/mciYhuX0mW
— Banks o' Dee FC (@banksodee_fc) October 14, 2023
Dee grabbed the killer second in the 90th minute when substitute Magnus Watson’s cross was parried by Ellis and Dayshonne Golding, on his debut following a loan move from Cove Rangers, turned the ball home.
Dean Donaldson's first Locos line-up
🚂🔴⚽⚫ pic.twitter.com/FdAk44akcf
— Inverurie Loco Works FC (@InverurieLocos) October 14, 2023
Donaldson said: “Dee going down to ten didn’t really help us much, we couldn’t open them up.
“The first half was quite even, the difference being the slack back-pass and the second goal conceded was of our own doing as well.
“You can’t make mistakes against good teams at this level. They got their win but we move on, we have a lot to work with.”