Banks o’ Dee reached the semi-finals of the Morrison Motors (Turriff) Aberdeenshire Shield with a 5-0 victory against 10-man Formartine United.
Lachie MacLeod opened the scoring for the Aberdeen side in the quarter-final at North Lodge Park before the home team had Aaron Norris sent off.
Max Alexander then netted from the penalty spot with Kane Winton, Hamish MacLeod and Dayshonne Golding also on target.
Dee, who won the Aberdeenshire Shield for the first time in 2022, will play their last four tie on Wednesday November 8.
Visitors strike first
Playing with a stiff breeze at their backs Formartine had a couple of early openings.
Marc Lawrence’s low drive from the edge of the area was held by Dee goalkeeper Daniel Hoban and then Paul Campbell broke in behind, but sent his effort wide as Hoban rushed out.
The visitors soon came into the game with Michael Philipson stinging goalkeeper Ewen Macdonald’s palms with a left-footed shot.
After quarter of an hour Dee took the lead with Philipson releasing Alexander, who was one on one with the last United defender Kieran Adams.
Although Adams made a good sliding challenge, the ball broke for Lachie MacLeod, who hammered a shot into the left corner.
Midway through the first half Dee could have doubled their advantage when a corner wasn’t fully cleared. Mark Gilmour crossed from the left and found Alexander at the back post, only for Ewen Macdonald to get down low to make a good save.
In the 28th minute, Macdonald made another good stop to repel Alexander’s header from Marc Young’s long throw.
But a minute later, Dee made it 2-0 and Formartine were also reduced to 10 men.
Gilmour got in behind Norris on the left and went down inside the area after having his heels clipped.
Referee Joel Kennedy pointed to the penalty spot and showed Norris a red card for denying a goalscoring opportunity with Alexander finding the bottom right corner from 12 yards.
On the stroke of half-time, Dee put the tie to bed by scoring their third.
Gilmour’s corner from the left was met by Winton, who looped a header into the left corner.
Dee add more
In the 52nd minute, it got even better for Dee as they netted their fourth.
Kennedy stopped play after the ball hit him, despite the visitors retaining the possession they had before the ball struck the official.
From the resultant drop-ball, Gilmour slipped it to Hamish MacLeod on the left side of the box and he finished well across Macdonald.
Banks o’ Dee didn’t let up and made it five just after the hour mark with sub Golding – who joined on loan from Cove Rangers at the weekend – breaking through on goal before rounding Macdonald and finishing.
However, the Formartine players were incensed and felt Golding should have been punished for a push on Adams in the build-up.
The game petered out somewhat in the closing stages, with United keen to avoid further damage and Banks o’ Dee content with the outcome.
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