Sam Robertson was pleased to go from sinner to saint for Huntly and is eager to play his part in extending their good run.
The Black and Golds face Buckie Thistle at Victoria Park this evening in the first round of Morrison Motors (Turriff) Aberdeenshire Shield.
Huntly have won 10 of their last 13 fixtures in all competitions, including a 3-1 victory against the Jags in the semi-final of the Evening Express Aberdeenshire Cup last month.
Attacker Robertson bagged a brace in Saturday’s 3-2 win over Inverurie Locos and was relieved to make a positive contribution after being sent off in the first half of the Strathbogie side’s Scottish Cup loss to Brechin City a week earlier.
The 27-year-old said: “That was the first red card I’ve ever had and with the magnitude of the game it was very disappointing.
“I let the boys and the club down because it left us with 10 men for a long period of time.
“So Saturday against Inverurie was a good response. I was lucky enough to get to start against Inverurie and it was pleasing to prove myself again with a couple of goals.”
The winner of tonight’s tie will face Hermes in Shield quarter-final and Robertson believes Huntly have what it takes to repeat their success in the Shire Cup.
He added: “We’ll need to be at it from the start because we know Buckie will be up for it.
“We need to match Buckie’s hunger, desire and work-rate and if we do that then we can get a result.
“We’re on a good run and whoever we play we have the belief we can get a result.”
McCabe eyes silverware
Meanwhile, Joe McCabe wants to savour success with Buckie in the cup competitions.
Last season’s Breedon Highland League title triumph was the right-back’s first honour with the Jags.
Except for a year away in London with work commitments McCabe has been at Victoria Park since 2019 and hopes Buckie can have success in the Shield and the R Davidson (Banchory) Highland League Cup this term.
He said: “Our league form hasn’t been great this season so the cup competitions become even more important.
“The one thing about my time at Buckie that’s been disappointing is that we haven’t won more trophies.
“We’ve put ourselves in good positions in both the league and cup finals without getting over the line. Hopefully we can change that this season.
“But Huntly are on a good run and we know based on the last game against them it will be difficult.”
Vale ready for battle with holders
Garry Wood hopes Deveronvale can rise to the occasion in what he believes is the toughest draw in the Morrison Motors (Turriff) Aberdeenshire Shield first round.
The Banffers face holders Banks o’ Dee at Spain Park tonight and player-manager Wood is under no illusions about the difficulty of their task.
However, he does take some confidence from Vale’s performance in a 1-0 Breedon Highland League loss to Dee in September.
Wood said: “No two games are the same, but we do take some positives from the last game.
“However, there were also points we need to improve on. We need to be a bit more clinical in both boxes in terms of the goal we gave away and then chances we had that we didn’t take.
“Over the piece we competed well. But they’re up near the top of the league and are cup holders so it’s the hardest draw we could have got.”
Banks o’ Dee have won this tournament in two of the last three seasons and Andy Hunter is hoping to experience a successful Aberdeenshire Shield campaign.
The striker joined the Aberdeen outfit in the summer with the aim of winning silverware.
Hunter, 31, said: “The cups are a big thing for the club and we’re expected to do well so it’s up to us to do that.
“I joined Banks o’ Dee to try to have some success and win things so this is a big month.
“This is the first round of the Aberdeenshire Shield, we play in the first round of the Highland League Cup on Saturday and have the Aberdeenshire Cup final the following weekend.”
United ready for Dyce test
Elsewhere, Formartine United manager Stuart Anderson is bracing his side for a tricky first round encounter with high-flying junior outfit Dyce at Ian Mair Park.
Dyce have yet to lose in the North Region Premier League this season and Highland League Formartine are taking nothing for granted.
Anderson said: “It will be a very tough game, they’re flying in their league and have hardly conceded a goal.
“The Shield is a competition we would like to do well in. Every competition you enter you’ve got to try to win and this is one we feel we have a realistic chance in.
“However, you can only take it one game at a time and we can’t look ahead because Dyce are a very good side.”
Dyce boss Alfie Youngson isn’t putting any pressure on his side, but is hopeful of a good showing.
He added: “Our lads will give it their all, but we’re coming up against players who operate at a higher level.
“Our approach since we started playing in these competitions is that there’s no pressure on us really but we want to do well and show what we’re capable of against sides from a higher level.
“We’ve had some brilliant games in the Aberdeenshire competitions and this is another one, hopefully we acquit ourselves well.”
The winner of Dee against Deveronvale will visit Turriff United in the quarter-final with Dyce or Formartine hosting Inverurie Locos or Aberdeen in the last eight.
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