Buckie Thistle produced an excellent display to defeat Clach at Victoria Park and progress to the second round of the Highland League Cup.
An early goal from Marcus Goodall and substitute Liam Harvey’s first goal for the club won it for the home side.
Jags boss Lewis Mackinnon was full of praise for his players.
He said: “After a tough game on Wednesday night, ten of those players started today and I thought they were excellent.
“We passed the ball better, picked up a lot of second balls and used the ball well in midfield.
“Clach did have a spell of possession in the second half but we defended our box really well and Mark (Ridgers) only had a couple of long range efforts to deal with.
“Liam Harvey did well again coming off the bench, he held the ball up for us, pressed their defence and it was a great finish to beat Joe Malin from there.
“I keep saying November is a big month for us and we’ve started it well, but there’s more to come from this team.
“We have to continue that run right up until the Scottish Cup tie at the end of the month.”
Buckie took the lead nine minutes in, Dale Wood and Andy MacAskill doing well to set up Jack MacIver, and his low driven cross was fired high into the net at the far post by Goodall.
Joe McCabe headed a good chance for number two over the bar from close range, before Lewis Mackenzie raced onto a clever flick from Connor Bunce but didn’t get a good enough connection to beat Ridgers.
Harvey sealed Jags’ passage into the next round on 85 minutes. He was played through by Goodall and crashed a shot from a tight angle beyond Malin and in off the left-hand post.
Clach manager Conor Gethins felt the tie was decided on fine margins.
He said: “I thought we had the majority of the possession overall, but we just lacked the killer instinct.
“We had chances when we chose to pass it on to the next player instead of pulling the trigger, whereas young Liam (Harvey) has came on and had a shot that deflects past Joe (Malin) and goes in off the post. Those are the fine margins that decided it.
“Buckie are league champions and still have some quality players who know what to do and when to do it. We are still at the progression stage.”
Brechin City 2-1 Inverurie Locos
Brechin City progressed to the second round of the Highland League Cup following a narrow 2-1 victory over Inverurie Locos at Glebe Park.
After a fairly uneventful opening 45 minutes when clear-cut chances for both sides were few and far between, the game sprung to life after the break with City scoring the opening goal in the 62nd minute.
Ryan Ferguson, playing his first full 90 minutes after a lengthy injury lay-off, fired home a drive from the edge of the box which took a slight deflection on its way into the net.
City looked to have the game wrapped up after 76 minutes when Dayle Robertson who had come on a substitute a few minutes earlier side-footed a Spencer Moreland cross into the net.
However, Locos reduced the deficit just a couple of minutes when Mark Souter headed home from close-range.
City were then dealt a blow when Robertson was shown a straight red card following an incident with Soutar in the visitors’ penalty box.
Robertson received a further red card from referee Joel Kennedy following remarks made to a linesman after his dismissal.
Despite piling on the pressure in the closing stages Locos were unable to find an equaliser.
Brechin boss Patrick Cregg said: “There wasn’t loads in it.
“We probably edged it over the piece without dominating the game.
“We started the game with three 17-year-olds and one 18-year-old so all credit to them for their performances. I was really happy with the way they played.
“We made a number of changes today to give players who have not been featuring regularly an opportunity.
“We had to dig in in the closing stages following Dayle’s sending-off but our objective before the match was to make sure we progressed to the second round and I’m delighted we’ve achieved that.”
Locos boss Dean Donaldson said: “We played with a good tempo, we passed the ball really well we created so many chances but we’re just lacking that killer touch in front of goal.
“I know that games are defined by goals but I’m really pleased with the way the lads performed.”
Fraserburgh 2-0 Forres Mechanics
Forres Mechanics manager Steven MacDonald was left fuming at the end of their loss to Fraserburgh in the R Davidson (Banchory) Highland League Cup.
Can-Cans boss MacDonald felt they should have been awarded a free kick by referee Jamie McCunnie in the lead up to the home side’s first goal.
MacDonald felt that the officials made a poor decision in allowing Josh Bolton to score after the ball broke to him eight yards from goal after Scott Barbour collided with Forres keeper Corey Patterson.
He said: “It’s a decision that has had a big say on the game as we had started well and I am shocked that the goal was allowed to stand as my keeper has stud marks just above his knee from Barbour’s challenge.
“The referee said that his assistant didn’t feel it was a foul but everyone could see that it was and he has the power to overrule his colleague.
“Having said that it took a late goal for Fraserburgh to seal the win, while we were left to rue big chances that fell to Kyle MacLeod and Sam Nixon.
“I am proud of the boys for the effort and delighted with them for the shift they put in at what is a difficult place to get a victory.”
Fraserburgh manager Mark Cowie was delighted to gain the victory knowing that they had to work hard to take their place in the next round.
He said: “We could have done better in the first half as we only cut them open twice which was not enough in my mind.
“But once we made a couple of changes in the second half the pace of Connor Wood helped to stretch the play and we could have maybe have had a couple more as their keeper had some good saves.
“These games are all about getting into the next round and we needed to get a reaction to losing silly points last weekend at Strathspey. I think we achieved that as we are drawing too many games this season.”
Before the game Forres re-signed Ryan McRitchie from Brora Rangers on a contract until the summer of 2027, the defender having left the Can-Cans to join the Cattachs in August.
Meanwhile this tie was captain Willie West’s 700th appearance for Fraserburgh.
Bolton took advantage of the ball breaking from Barbour’s challenge on Patterson to fire the Broch ahead after 13 minutes with the decisive second goal coming from Wood nine minutes from time. Paul Young released the substitute and he ran on to slip the ball beyond Patterson from 14 yards.
Huntly 5-2 Wick Academy
Huntly twice trailed before netting three late goals to secure a 5-2 first round victory over Wick Academy in the Highland League Cup.
Colin Charlesworth, the Huntly boss, said: “The objective was to win the game. The previous two games with Wick were tight but I thought we controlled more of it today.
“They did cause us a threat it was deflating losing a goal after the break but what a way to come back with a 5-2 win and a place in the next round.”
Charlesworth praised veteran Alexander Thoirs who came off the bench to score.
He added: “He’s such an infectious personality and is great for this club.
“He’s had a number of injuries since I came into the job and to get him back involved and see him score, I’m delighted for him.”
On the quarter-hour mark, Wick Academy were awarded a free kick when Ross Still was cautioned for a trip on Marc MacGregor. From the resultant free kick, Kyle Henderson curled the dead ball round the wall for his ninth of the season.
Huntly levelled the scoring when Ryan Sewell made space for himself before firing in off the post to open his account for the season.
Academy restored the lead two minutes after the break when Gordon MacNab cut the ball back for Marc MacGregor to net his third of the campaign with a low drive.
Huntly were awarded a free kick in the 54th and Angus Grant powered in a free kick from 20 yards into the top corner for his 21st of the season.
Alexander Thoirs returned to competitive action for the first time since January 24 and it took the veteran only 11 minutes to make an impact when he gathered an opposition clearance and struck a powerful drive from 35 yards to put his side in the lead.
With 33 seconds of normal time remaining, a Matthew Wallace corner was knocked on by Sam Robertson for Michael Clark to turn in from close range.
Over two minutes into additional time, Michael Clark turned provider heading the ball on for Sam Robertson to convert his ninth of the season from yards out.
Wick player-manager Gary Manson said: “We scored after half-time but also before that we had a good chance before that and on another day, we could’ve been 3-1 up.
“It’s another game where we are 2-2 and the game was in the balance.
“It is highly disappointing as losing goals late in the game is an unfortunate trait and that’s happened in the last three games.”
Keith 0-5 Brora Rangers
A stunning five goal first half salvo paved the way to R Davidson (Banchory) Highland League Cup holders Brora Rangers beginning their cup defence in sparkling fashion at Kynoch Park.
Leading the first half romp with his first senior hat-trick Andrew Macleod who was simply unstoppable against a Keith side that showed eight changes from the previous week.
Brora manager Steven Mackay said: “It was a very comprehensive performance, we were conscious of what happened up at Dudgeon Park a few months ago, so we just wanted to make sure we approached the game correctly.
“As a result we worked hard both on and off the ball.
“It was a flawless first half in all honesty, some of the passes we played, and some of the goals we scored were brilliant.
“We scored early on and kicked on from there.
“Andrew Macleod has done a phenomenal job since he’s come in, and I’m sure that will be the first of many hat-tricks.”
The Cattachs edged ahead after eight minutes when Michael Finnis easily headed home a Tony Dingwall corner.
Three minutes later Macleod found space for himself to clinically slot home a low shot from 10 yards.
It was game over on the quarter hour mark when Macleod crashed home a rasping 20 yarder after the ball was deflected into his path.
Brora scored again with 27 minutes on the clock following another corner with Shane Sutherland nodding home from six yards.
The first half rout was completed four minutes from the break when a Dingwall drive came off the the post and Macleod pounced to gleefully head home the loose ball.
Although the Maroons changed tack and personnel in the second half, the game was done and dusted in the first period.
Keith manager Craig Ewen said: “I’ll take full responsibility today for the result.
“I made a lot of changes, giving a few boys the opportunity in the cup to see how far they were from staking a claim for a regular place in the starting line-up.
“Unfortunately, we got run over in the first half. I can’t take anything away from Brora, in the first half they were excellent, but at the same time we were very poor.
“We tweaked things and brought on other players and competed a lot better but the damage was done.”
Lossiemouth 1-4 Deveronvale
Deveronvale marched into the quarter-finals of the R Davidson (Banchory) Highland League Cup after an emphatic 4-1 victory against 10-man Lossiemouth at Grant Park.
Vale topped off a fine week’s work, after beating Banks o’ Dee in the Morrison Motors (Turriff) Aberdeenshire Shield in midweek, with another impressive outing.
Vale manager Garry Wood said: “It was a really good performance on Wednesday and I challenged the guys before the game to make sure they did it again.
“I think that’s probably the best we’ve played all season. Some of the football we played, some of the goals we scored, was tremendous.
“Even before the sending off we were in total control. I thought it was one of the most complete performances we’ve had this season, which was really pleasing off the back of a really tough game on Wednesday.”
Lossie started brightly and Brandon Hutcheson had the first real chance of the game in the fifth minute but he headed over the crossbar.
But the visitors gradually took control and they went ahead in the 25th minute when Jack Mitchell whipped in a deep delivery front the right and Ben Hermiston headed high into the net at the back post.
Lossie hit back seven minutes from the break when Liam Archibald’s set-piece delivery into the box was touched on by Brodie Christie and James Leslie forced the ball into the net from close range.
There were Lossie appeals for a penalty in the 40th minute when Archibald went down in the box but Vale immediately swept upfield and Tobias Davies-Browne sent over a sublime ball which Keane Matheson converted with a powerful header.
As Vale celebrated the goal referee Owen Lawrence red carded Archibald for an off-the-ball incident.
Vale took full advantage of the extra man in the second half and substitute Olek Dlugosz stretched the lead in the 56th minute. Demilade Yunas won the ball back in the middle of the park and Dlugosz found the net with a fine finish.
Mitchell capped an excellent display when he made it 4-1 in the 76th minute after good work from Jayden Goldie.
New Lossie boss Steve Porter said: “We played some good football and had some good spells. The sending off has killed us, unfortunately.
“It’s difficult with 10 men against a good team like Deveronvale.”
Commenting on Lossie’s goal, he added: “We were working on set pieces in training this week, so when it comes off it’s great. But there wasn’t enough of that. The few opportunities we had in the game we didn’t capitalise on, it’s a work in progress.”
Rothes 1-8 Formartine United
Formartine United progressed to the second round of the Highland League Cup after easing past Rothes at Mackessack Park.
Formartine manager Stuart Anderson said: “I thought we played well although I felt we could have been more clinical in the first half, which is frustrating.
“There was a lot of good individual performances which is pleasing, none more so than Robert Ward who scored four goals and was very good.
“He hasn’t played much football recently but he’s getting up to speed now and today he looked really sharp. He has been a really good addition to the group and he has a really good attitude.”
New Rothes manager Ronnie Sharp and his assistant Michael Rae made their Speysiders’ debut in what was always going to be a tough assignment against one of the league’s top sides.
Sharp said: “We were pleased with 60 minutes. Our commitment and work-rate were first class.
“We had a couple of chances in that first half and even when we went 3-0 down I felt we still had something to play for but later on we were very naive and our fitness levels dropped off as well.
“We definitely need to get fitter. Young boys are going to make mistakes so we need some experienced players to come in and help us out.”
United got off to a flyer in the third minute when Julian Wade set up Robert Ward who stabbed the ball past Rothes debutant keeper Stewart Black from six yards.
Three minutes later Rothes should have equalised when Ross Logan burst through the middle but he shot straight at Ewen MacDonald.
In the 20th minute Rothes skipper Liam McDade was stretchered off with a knee injury, his place at the back going to Brodie Mitchell.
Six minutes after the restart Formartine made it 2-0, Ward grabbing his second goal of the afternoon with a curling 15 yarder with home keeper Black rooted to the spot.
It was 3-0 just after the hour when Jamie Young was woefully short with a pass-back and Wade took full advantage with a 12-yard finish.
However, within two minutes Rothes pulled one back with Owen Alexander leaping high to power a downward header into the bottom corner of the net.
It was 4-1 in the 73rd minute, keeper Black let the ball squirm from his grasp and as substitute Tyler Mykyta went for the ball he was brought down in the box by Mitchell. Ward completed his hat-trick from the resultant spot-kick.
To add insult to injury Rothes defender Taylor Thain turned the ball into his own net with 11 minutes to go and four minutes later the unfortunate defender scored another own goal under pressure at the back post.
With two minutes to go Aaron Norris got a flick a couple of yards out to make it 7-1 and right on time Ward blasted home his own fourth goal and United’s eighth.
Conversation