Jack Murray reckons tomorrow’s Evening Express Aberdeenshire Cup semi-final against Fraserburgh is a test of Buckie Thistle’s trophy-winning credentials.
While Kieran Simpson wants to do his bit to help the Broch be clinical in their quest to retain the famous old trophy.
The Jags travel to Bellslea with a final meeting against Aberdeen or Inverurie Locos the prize for the victor.
Since lifting their last piece of silverware in 2017, Buckie have been defeated in three cup finals and finished second in the Breedon Highland League in the last two seasons.
Defender Murray is determined to end their trophy wait.
The 23-year-old said: “It’s massive for us, we’ve been hunting for a trophy for a while and it hasn’t come.
“So this is a game we really want to win to give us a chance in the final.
“These games do test you, we know if we want to win anything we need to win games like this.”
Sitter in last meeting sickened Simpson
The teams met in the league a fortnight ago with Thistle prevailing 1-0 and Fraserburgh left rueing a failure to convert second half chances.
By his own admission defender Simpson was among the guilty parties that night after missing the target with a close range header he described as “a sitter.”
The 23-year-old knows the Broch can’t afford to be wasteful again.
Simpson added: “We know what Buckie are about and we know it will be difficult.
“In the last game we had some good chances and I missed an absolute sitter.
“I’ve had a few goals recently, but the miss against Buckie brought me back down to earth.
Even the @BuckieThistle players had their hands on their heads after the second @FraserburghFC miss…🙆♂️
🎥️⚽️ Full #HighlandLeagueWeekly highlights of last night's @LeagueHighland clash between title-chasers Buckie and Fraserburgh are out now:https://t.co/DsjBpB8aOb pic.twitter.com/ESyCtd3zKC
— Highland League Weekly (@HighlandLW) February 22, 2024
“I definitely feel I should score more. I’ve been getting a hard time from my dad (former Peterhead, Inverurie, Formartine United and Turriff United defender, Mark).
“He says for the height of me and with my ability in the air I should be scoring at least 10 a season.
“I can’t lie, I’m not great at scoring goals and it’s something I need to work on.”
Murray chuffed with goal return
In contrast, Buckie’s Murray hasn’t found finding the net to be an issue.
With 15 goals in all competitions he is north football’s highest scoring defender and doesn’t plan on slowing down.
Murray said: “I’m happy with the number of goals I’ve scored, I think I can still get a few more, but it’s been good so far.
“Being put on penalties has helped because I think I’ve scored six penalties this season.
“Twenty is achievable and it would be a good number for a defender.
“I do take pride in it. Set pieces are a massive part of the game and you see every week goals are scored from corners and free-kicks.
“As a team we see it as an opportunity for myself and others to get up and get a goal.”
Fraserburgh – who are also in the final of the GPH Builders Merchants Highland League Cup this term – are Aberdeenshire Cup holders and Simpson doesn’t want to relinquish their grip on the trophy.
Simpson said: “You want to win every competition that you’re in, all you can do is take it one game at a time and do your best to try to win it.
“We’ve still got a lot to play for with the two cups, we’ve got a good group of lads who will keep going until the end of the season.”
Inverurie’s Souter sets sights on silverware
Long-serving Mark Souter is determined to try to end Inverurie Locos’ wait for success as they face Aberdeen in the Evening Express Aberdeenshire Cup semi-final.
The Railwaymen face the Dons at Harlaw Park in a 7.30pm kick-off tomorrow as they try to set up a final meeting with Fraserburgh or Buckie Thistle.
Defender Souter joined Inverurie in the summer of 2011 and has helped them win the Morrison Motors (Turriff) Aberdeenshire Shield twice in that period.
However, both he and the club have been trophy-less since their last Shield success in December 2016.
Souter is eager to try to go all the way in the Shire Cup and believes glory would cap a remarkable turnaround this term.
A poor start to the season saw Andy Low dismissed in September with Dean Donaldson appointed as manager the following month.
Souter, 29, said: “It’s been far too long since the club lifted a trophy, with the stage I’m at in my career I feel I haven’t won enough.
“Looking at where we were six months ago I don’t think people would’ve been looking at us thinking we could get into a semi-final, never mind a final potentially.
“If we could win a trophy you could say it’s been a good season, especially when you look at where we were five or six months ago.
“If I finish and I’ve only won two Aberdeenshire Shields I’ll be disappointed with that so when opportunities like this arise we need to grab them.
“Although I hope I’ve got quite a few more years left in me, I don’t want to finish my career and be disappointed.
“But I’m expecting to face a very good Aberdeen team and we know it will be a difficult tie.”
Sweet strike to set up semi
Souter played a big part in setting up tomorrow’s tie against Aberdeen by scoring Inverurie’s stunning opener from 40 yards in last Wednesday’s quarter-final triumph against Formartine United.
He added: “The management team have a style they want us to play and we all buy into that.
“But when I took my touch nobody really closed me down and the goalkeeper was slightly off his line and I thought it was too good to turn down.
Soapy earned himself a free lunch with this strike but we thought you'd enjoy watching it over breakfast!
Full highlights from last night's impressive victory to follow.
🚂🔴⚽⚫ pic.twitter.com/kkvoKEjLc4
— Inverurie Loco Works FC (@InverurieLocos) February 29, 2024
“Thankfully it went in because if it had gone over I’d have been getting shouted at.
“Football’s all about goals like that, you can’t pass it into the net all the time.
“If it opens up like that again for me then I’ll have a go, if you don’t shoot you don’t score.
“But I fully appreciate how Dean wants to play and they don’t want me or any of the other centre-backs hitting it from there normally so thankfully it went in.”
Strathspey manager search ongoing
Strathspey Thistle are making progress in their search for a new manager – but Robert MacCormack remains in charge for tomorrow’s clash with Brora Rangers.
Boss MacCormack announced last week that he plans to step down at the end of the season with the Grantown Jags already starting the hunt for a successor.
At this stage the Press and Journal understands the position won’t be advertised as Strathspey consider their next steps.
In the meantime MacCormack is happy to continue for the remainder of the campaign and is short of bodies for the Seafield Park encounter with the Cattachs.
John McLeod, Jack Gilliland, Ross Logan, Kane Davies, Caelan Mutch, Daniel Whitehorn, Steven Martin and James McShane are all missing.
For Brora, Saturday’s defeat to Fraserburgh means they have only won one of their last six games and Gregor MacDonald admits that isn’t good enough.
The 23-year-old midfielder said: “We’ve been stuck in a bit of a rut recently, struggling to score goals and giving away cheap goals defensively.
“We need to try to dig ourselves out of this and get as many points as we can between now and the end of the season.
“We want to try to reach the top four and prove to ourselves that we are going the right way.”
Strachan happy to stay
Meanwhile, Liam Strachan believes the future is bright for Turriff United after signing a contract extension until the summer of 2026.
Turra face local rivals Deveronvale at the Haughs tomorrow and the 25-year-old midfielder said: “As soon as the extension was offered to me I was happy to sign, I’m enjoying my football.
“There is a bright future ahead I think, we’ve improved leaps and bounds from last season to this season.
“That’s shown with the points tally we’ve got and hopefully we can build on that again next season.
In better news…..we have some signing news to brighten up your weekend!
First up signing an extension is midfielder Liam Strachan who signs on until the summer of 2026 pic.twitter.com/2opzgGi90H
— Turriff United Football Club (@TurriffUnitedFC) March 1, 2024
“It’s a local derby and we know it will be a tough game, but it’s one we’re desperate to win. I’m a local boy and you want to be winning the derby.”
Deveronvale are without Scott Thomson and Ben Allan, while Aaron Hamilton is a doubt.
Keith look to continue their four-match unbeaten run when Nairn County visit Kynoch Park. Joey Wilson, Josh Buchan, Matthew Tough and Liam Duncan are out for the Maroons with Gavin Elphinstone a doubt.
Fraser Dingwall returns for Nairn after winning his appeal against Saturday’s red card against Clach.
The Wee County would move upto sixth with a win but are missing Wayne Mackintosh, Ross Tokely and long-term absentee Andrew Greig.