Formartine United boss Stuart Anderson was thrilled to progress to the Morrison Motors (Turriff) Aberdeenshire Shield semi-final after a penalty shoot-out triumph against Inverurie Locos.
This keenly-contested quarter-final tie at North Lodge Park finished 1-1, but the Pitmedden side prevailed 5-4 in the shoot-out with goalkeeper Ewen Macdonald saving the last spot-kick from Callum Duncan.
Formartine will be at home to Hermes or Buckie Thistle in the last four as they bid to win the Shield for the second time following their maiden success in January 2019.
Anderson said: “I’m delighted to get through, when it goes to penalties it’s a lottery.
“Inverurie are a good side and there wasn’t much between the teams, they had the first half and we had the second half.
“We’ve lost a few penalty shoot-outs, but it’s swings and roundabouts, you’ll win one eventually and we have.
“Ewen made a really good save and he’s done that in quite a few shoot-outs over the years.
“Credit to him he’s made some big saves in big moments, he’s in excellent form just now and we’re delighted to have him.
“You go into every tournament trying to win it and we’ll think about the semi-final when it comes around. It’s good for the boys to have the opportunity to get to a final.”
Little between the teams
Inverurie had the better of the first period and came closest to making the breakthrough on 25 minutes when Aidan Wilson’s drive from 25 yards was brilliantly turned away by Macdonald diving to his left.
After the break Formartine asked more questions of the visitors and broke the deadlock just after the hour mark.
Marc Lawrence linked with Paul Campbell and his ball forward was nodded down by Aaron Norris for striker Julian Wade – who had come off the bench barely a minute earlier – he drove into the area and finished into the bottom left corner.
However, Inverurie fought back and equalised on 74 minutes. Ryan Park’s flick on released Duncan on the right side of the box and he fired into the bottom left corner.
In the shoot-out the Graeme Rodger, Norris, Michael Dangana, Wade and Aidan Combe all netted for United.
Paul Coutts, Calum Dingwall, Mark Souter and Cole Anderson did likewise for Locos, but with the Railwaymen’s fifth spot-kick Macdonald dived low to his right to deny Duncan.
Locos’ cup hopes over for this term
Defeat means Inverurie are out of all the cup competitions this season.
Manager Dean Donaldson said: “When it gets to penalties it’s a lottery. Callum is a young player who was big enough to step up and take a penalty, he’s missed and he’ll learn from it.
“Over the course of the game I thought we were the better team, but again we’re not taking our chances.
“The boys need to have a little bit more about them to put the ball in the net or at least hit the target.
“We’re competing and running top teams close, it’s just the final part that’s eluding us just now.
“It’s not even Christmas and we’ve got no cups left to play for which is frustrating with them all being played before the turn of the year.”
Turriff United 1-0 Deveronvale
Turriff United will host either Keith or Fraserburgh in the semi-finals of the Morrison Motors (Turriff) Aberdeenshire Shield after edging out Deveronvale at a chilly Haughs.
The only goal of the game came in the 68th minute when Murray Cormack placed a well-struck 15-yard grounder beyond Ethan Hopkinson in the visitors’ goal.
In the third minute Vale had a loud shout for a penalty kick when Ben Hermiston appeared to be upended by Owen Kinsella but referee Scott Donohoe waved play on.
At the other end Reece McKeown headed past the upright from six yards with only Vale keeper Hopkinson to beat.
Both sets of players were finding it difficult to keep their footing in the slippery conditions.
In the 25th minute home keeper Lee Herbert flapped at a Harry Noble cross but there was no Vale player in the six-yard box ready to capitalise on his mistake.
On the half hour mark Herbert redeemed himself when he raced from goal to dive at the feet of the onrushing Alexsander Dlugosz.
Two minutes after the restart United full-back Kieran Yeats slid in and sent the ball just wide from eight yards as the home side opened the second half with intent.
The game badly needed a goal and it came in the 68th minute when Cormack fired an angled 15-yard drive past Hopkinson and into the bottom corner of the net.
Hermes and Buckie go head-to-head
Buckie Thistle boss Lewis MacKinnon hopes they can get the better of unfamiliar opponents in the Morrison Motors (Turriff) Aberdeenshire Shield.
The Jags face Junior side Hermes at Lochside Park in the quarter-final of the Shield on Wednesday night.
This clash is the first of two quarter-final ties for Buckie this week, on Saturday they tackle Fraserburgh in the R Davidson (Banchory) Highland League Cup.
Since Hermes started playing the Aberdeenshire Cup and Shield in 2021 they have never faced Thistle before now.
MacKinnon said: “Hermes aren’t a team that we’re familiar with playing, but we’ve done our preparation and it’s clear they’re a very good team.
“They’re doing well in their league this season and we’ve got complete respect for them, but we want to go out and express ourselves.
“We’ve got two quarter-finals this week and our full focus is on this tie, but it would be great if we could reach the semi-final of both competitions. That’s where we want the club to be competing.”
Underdogs up for the challenge
Hermes have had a good season to date. They have already lifted the Grill League Cup and Saturday’s Scottish Junior Cup defeat to Benburn was their first loss in Junior competitions this term.
Manager Steve Watson is hoping for a good showing against Buckie and added: “At home we’ve proved over the years that teams will need to play well to beat us.
“Home advantage is good for us and although we’re underdogs you never know what can happen.
“We’ve never managed to reach a semi-final in one of the Aberdeenshire competitions so it would be a massive leap for us to win this tie.
“We’ve had a great season so far and what the boys have done so far this season after a massive turnaround of players has been really good. Hopefully we can keep it going.”
Meanwhile, last night’s quarter-final between Keith and Fraserburgh at Kynoch Park was postponed due to frosty underfoot conditions.
Conversation