Co-manager Paul Lawson hailed Liam Duell after he helped fire Banks o’ Dee into the Evening Express Aberdeenshire Cup semi-final.
The striker netted a hat-trick for the Aberdeen side as they defeated Formartine United 4-0 in a one-sided quarter-final at North Lodge Park.
Ally Stark got Dee’s other goal, with their victory securing a last four clash against Aberdeen on October 9.
Duell has scored five times in three appearances since joining from Kirriemuir Thistle and Lawson, who is joint-boss with Josh Winton, was thrilled with his display.
Lawson said: “We scored some great goals, it’s hard to single anyone out, but I thought Liam getting his hat-trick was different class.
“Liam’s been brilliant, he gives us something we’ve maybe not had with his energy and the way he plays.
“He sets the tone for our press, he was excellent and deserved his goals.
“He’s been a breath of fresh air since he came in and it’s been a welcome boost for us.
“Bringing Liam to the club was on the cards for a while and we were delighted to get it done.
“Overall I thought we were excellent from start to finish.
“From Daniel Hoban in goal to the subs that came on everyone was excellent.
“It was probably as good a performance as we could have asked for. We were ruthless at both ends of the pitch.”
Visitors on top
Dee started on the front foot and took the lead after quarter of an hour.
Formartine were caught trying to play out from the back with Andy Hunter dispossessing Aaron Norris.
Hunter found Michael Philipson on the right side of the box and he picked out the unmarked Duell, who fired into the right corner.
Shortly after the half hour mark Duell doubled his tally. He galloped onto Stark’s pinpoint pass and from the right side of the penalty area produced an excellent finish into the bottom left corner.
In the 43rd minute Dee struck for a third time. Kane Winton crossed from the right and after Duell’s effort had been blocked Stark pounced to lash the loose ball into the left corner.
It had been a dominant first half display from Banks o’ Dee and they didn’t let up after the interval.
Winton’s drive from 25 yards was tipped wide by goalkeeper Ewen Macdonald, but the fourth goal arrived on 57 minutes.
Hamish MacLeod’s cutback from the right flank fell for Duell to complete his hat-trick from 14 yards.
Formartine were missing the likes of Julian Wade, Scott Adams, Marc Lawrence and Aidan Combe.
The closest they came was a Callum Youngson free-kick 10 minutes from time which forced a decent save from goalkeeper Daniel Hoban.
Disappointment for United
After seeing their five-game unbeaten run end, United boss Stuart Anderson said: “We’re really disappointed to go out of the cup, we just didn’t get to grips with Banks o’ Dee.
“We had a lot of boys below par which is disappointing, we’ve been on a good run and performances have been good.
“But we can’t be a Jekyll and Hyde team, we need to turn up in every game.
“If you don’t do the basics well and work as hard as the opposition that’s what can happen.
“Not everyone is included in that, but I felt our work-rate was below par overall and credit to Banks o’ Dee they were very good.
“You can use players missing as an excuse, but it’s 11 v 11 so there are no excuses on our part, it was a bad night at the office.”
Dyce 1-3 Aberdeen
Aberdeen coach Peter Leven praised the young Dons for digging deep to see off plucky Dyce to book their place in the semi-final of the Evening Express Aberdeenshire Cup.
A strong second half performance saw the Dons come from 1-0 down to beat the Junior side 3-1.
The under-18 side were made to work hard for their win as Alfie Youngson’s side held out for more than an hour at Ian Mair Park before three goals in the final 25 minutes secured victory.
Leven said: “We tweaked a few things at half-time and you could see their rhythm in the second half.
“It’s difficult putting these boys together as they don’t play together as much.
“You have guys on loan who are back for a day and obviously Fletcher Boyd has come back from Scotland as well and been thrown straight in.”
The young Dons made a bright start but were caught cold as the home side broke the deadlock with their first attack in the ninth minute. Fergus Alberts rose to beat goalkeeper Rodrigo Vitols with a looping header following Sam Garnham’s ball into the box.
A fine run and cross from the left from the left wing from Aberdeen’s Adam Emslie found Cameron Wilson in the penalty area but the attacker headed over the crossbar.
Alfie Stewart then saw his drive from the edge of the box saved by Morgan Cook in the Dyce goal.
Dyce had a good chance to extend their lead in the 33rd minute when Jack Walker found himself in space just inside the box but he blasted his shot wide.
The Dons continued to pepper the Dyce goal with shots towards the break in pursuit of an equaliser but they were restricted to long range efforts.
Dons increased tempo paid off in the second half
Aberdeen increased the tempo after the interval and Dyce’s resistance was finally broken in the 65th minute.
A poor header from a cross by a Dyce defender resulted in the ball falling perfectly for Hamilton to fire home the equaliser for Aberdeen.
Aberdeen quickly edged in front as Mackie and Wilson exchanged passes in the 70th minute to cut through the Dyce defence and create a chance for Boyd who fired past Cook.
The young Dons duly put the tie beyond the home side eight minutes from time when Mackie fired home the rebound after Cook had saved Boyd’s shot.
Leven insists the cup competitions provide a good test for the youngsters.
He said: “Competitions like this are vital for the young players in terms of their development.
“They are getting the chance to play against men who have been around the block and coming to places where the surfaces are not what they are used to.
“Yes, they are quality young players but games like this are about attitude and navigating the other side of the game, and they adapted well.”
Buckie Thistle 3-2 Fraserburgh
Buckie Thistle triumphed after a five-goal thriller against Fraserburgh at a blustery Victoria Park.
The home side took a first half lead through a Willie West own goal.
Two goals early in the second half by Scott Barbour turned the tie in favour of the Broch but Sam Pugh levelled soon after and Lyall Keir’s strike deep in stoppage time set up a semi-final tie away to Huntly for the Jags.
Fraserburgh started the match brightly with West putting in a couple of dangerous crosses which were well dealt with by the Buckie defence.
Kieran Simpson tried his luck from 30 yards with a free kick after Connor Wood had been fouled, but his effort fizzed a few yards wide.
On 12 minutes Mark Ridgers dropped the ball from Bryan Hay’s header back across goal. Two Broch players tried to force the ball home but Darryl McHardy cleared and Liam Strachan saw his effort deflected wide.
Dale Wood went down under a challenge inside the Broch box midway through the half but referee Robert McKinnon waved play on.
Strachan then played Scott Barbour through but his shot came back off the post, however the assistant referee had his flag up for offside.
Andrew MacAskill found Craig Cormack inside the area but his lay off to Keir was intercepted as he was about to shoot.
The home side took the lead on 32 minutes when Keir drove down the left and his cross was turned into his own net by West.
Joe McCabe then headed wide from MacAskill’s corner as Buckie began to exert more pressure before the break.
Barbour at the double
The second half started with the visitors searching for an equaliser and it came on 51 minutes when half-time substitute Flynn McKay played Barbour through on goal and he tucked the ball beyond Ridgers into the net.
Better was to come four minutes later for the Broch when Strachan picked out Barbour at the back post and his header crept into the far corner of the net.
Buckie levelled on 62 minutes. Sam Pugh saw a 20-yarder tipped round the post for a corner. MacAskill’s set-piece was cleared to Pugh and the Buckie skipper steered his shot into the net past goalkeeper Joe Barbour.
The Broch were reduced to ten men with six minutes remaining when West picked up his second booking in the space of two minutes.
Deep into stoppage time Buckie netted the winner when Keir turned the ball home after McCabe saw his initial effort saved.
Huntly 3-0 Hermes
Huntly booked their place in the Evening Express Aberdeenshire Cup semi-finals at home to Buckie Thistle with a 3-0 home win over Hermes.
Visting keeper Jacob Otto was kept busy in the early stages denying Ryan Sewell and Angus Grant in the space of two minutes.
Sam Robertson cut inside from the left and saw his effort turned round the post by Otto.
Good work by Robertson saw the forward win possession on the by-line and cut the ball back to Matthew Wallace who curled over.
The deadlock was broken after 34 minutes when Alexander Jack burst down the left and his cross was met by Grant who got in front of his marker for his tenth of the season.
Grant almost added another five minutes from the interval, chipping over from just inside the box.
The Black and Golds doubled their lead after 55 minutes when James Connelly burst down the right flank and crossed for Ross Still to head in at the near post.
Looking to reduce the deficit, Gafar Abari curled over from distance.
Robertson made it 3-0 after 72 minutes when he netted from 20 yards for his sixth of the season.
Paul Esslemont passed up another chance two minutes later, firing past after meeting a Keith Horne free kick.
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