Brora Rangers boss Steven Mackay dismissed treble talk after they reached the final of the R Davidson (Banchory) Highland League Cup.
The holders triumphed 3-1 against Deveronvale at Princess Royal Park to set-up a repeat of last year’s final against Fraserburgh on Saturday, April 19.
The Cattachs have already won the North of Scotland Cup this season and now have another final to look forward to, while their Breedon Highland League title challenge was also boosted on Saturday as Brechin City drew with Clachnacuddin.
League leaders Brora are three points ahead of the Hedgemen, and also have a better goal difference, with both sides having nine games left.
Mackay said: “I’ll let other people talk about trebles – we’re not getting carried away.
“We came here to win the semi-final and get into the final and we’ve done that.
“We just need to take care of our own business and see where we end up come the end of the season.”
Cattachs show character
Reflecting on Brora’s victory against Vale and looking ahead to tackling the Broch in the final, Mackay added: “Both teams gave everything in terms of their work ethic and desire. Both really wanted to win and I’m delighted we’ve come out with the victory.
“I think on the balance of play we deserved to win with the chances we created, but Deveronvale made us work hard for it.
“We responded well to them pegging us back and it was important we showed that resilience.
“It’s the character we’ve got in the dressing room. The appetite to win games is huge in that dressing room and I think we demonstrated that.
“We look forward to the final now. Games against Fraserburgh are always fiercely contested and they’re close affairs, it will be a good cup final.”
With Connor Bunce, Matthew Wright, Gary Pullen and Ross Hardie cup-tied and Jordan MacRae and James Wallace injured, Brora had midfielder Martin Maclean – who retired last summer after 12 years with the club – on the bench to beef up their squad and he came on in the 77th minute.
The Cattachs started brightly and took the lead on 13 minutes. Tom Kelly crossed from the right and Shane Sutherland escaped the attentions of Deveronvale’s defence to score from close range.
After Kelly had shot over from 16 yards Sutherland almost turned provider in the 25th minute when he nodded down Kelly’s delivery from the right, but Craig MacKenzie’s attempted finish was cleared off the line by Murray Esson.
Brora continued to probe and home goalkeeper Ethan Hopkinson made a good near post save to stop Keane Matheson turning another Kelly centre into his own net, while Sutherland headed over from a MacKenzie free-kick.
Hosts try to rally
But the Banffers, who were trying to reach their first final since September 2011, had chances of their own.
Just shy of the half hour mark Adam Reid fired wide from 12 yards and on the stroke of half-time player-manager Garry Wood flicked on a Jamie MacLellan cross from the left, but Jack Mitchell was thwarted by goalkeeper Cammy Mackay at the back post.
On 53 minutes Brora had a gilt-edged chance to double their lead. MacKenzie’s pinpoint pass but Tony Dingwall through on goal, but he hit the top of the crossbar with his shot.
Deveronvale were still very much in the tie and equalised on 65 minutes. Mitchell found Jayden Goldie on the right and his low cross was tapped in by Wood at the back post.
As time ticked down the Banffers had a couple of decent openings. MacLellan shot straight at Mackay from 15 yards following Mitchell’s right-wing cross.
On 82 minutes Goldie’s centre from the right was missed by Cammy Mackay, but Michael Finnis blocked sub Olek Dlugosz’s attempted finish.
Late double makes the difference
As a penalty shoot-out loomed Brora struck in the 87th minute. Vale couldn’t fully clear Dingwall’s corner and when the ball was returned to the winger on the left his cross was headed into the top left corner by MacKenzie.
Three minute later the Cattachs settled the issue when Dingwall’s cross from the right was headed home by the unmarked Sutherland from six yards.
Vale boss Wood said: “It’s disappointing, the players gave absolutely everything.
“I don’t think anyone could argue we were the better team in the second half. I thought we caused problems in the second half by getting in behind them.
“We didn’t take the chances that came our way and ultimately we paid the price for that and we’re out of the cup.
“I think we showed what we’re about, there’s definitely good signs of progress. We’ve got up to mid-table, we’ve increased our points total and we’ve got into a semi-final.
“Our aim was to get to the final, we need to keep going and hopefully next season when the opportunity arises we can take it.”
Brechin City 1-1 Clachnacuddin
Brechin City dropped another two vital home points in the race for the Breedon Highland League title following a 1-1 draw against Clachnacuddin at Glebe Park.
Clach grabbed the lead early in the second half when a Craig Lawrie corner wasn’t dealt with by the home defence leaving James Anderson unmarked at the far post and he had the simple task of slotting the ball past City keeper Lenny Wilson into the bottom corner of the net.
The visitors looked odds on to leave Glebe Park with all three points but City substitute Scott Logan showed great composure when he finished off a great run by drilling a left-foot drive past Clach keeper Logan Ross with three minutes remaining to salvage a point.
Brechin boss Patrick Cregg said: “I’m extremely disappointed.
“Our objective before the game was to win and it’s very disappointing we weren’t able to achieve that.
“At times in the first half we didn’t speed our play up and although some of our play was good, we didn’t have enough of those moments.
“Falling behind early in the second half made it an uphill task but the lads stuck with it and we got the equaliser.
“Draws aren’t of any use to us. We need to win our remaining nine games and I believe we can do that.”
Clach boss Conor Gethins was also disappointed his team didn’t come away with all three points.
He said: “I thought we were by far the more dangerous team and it’s just a lapse in concentration which has cost us all three points.
“When Brechin scored the equaliser it was probably the first time they got in behind our defence and put us under any threat.
“The better team didn’t win unfortunately.
“I felt we outworked and outplayed Brechin and we created some really good opportunities.
“I challenged the players before the match to be brave on the ball, which they certainly were.
“The hard work we’ve put in is paying off and the players in the dressing-groom are absolutely devastated that they didn’t win the match given the way they played.”
Wick Academy 2-0 Turriff United
Gary Manson was delighted with Wick Academy’s display against Turriff United as they won back-to-back matches for the first time this season.
The Scorries triumphed 2-0 against Turra at Harmsworth Park and manager Manson said: “I was really pleased. It was a controlled performance and a routine win in the end.
“It was good to keep a clean sheet and limit the opportunities Turriff had. That’s two wins in a row and two good, controlled performances so I’m happy with that.
“I said to the guys it was about playing the conditions and they did that to a tee. They got the ball in the right areas and defended the box well when they had to.”
United threatened at 0-0 when Murray Cormack’s cut-back found Archie Gibson, who miscued his 10-yard shot and the ball rebounded back off the crossbar.
In the 26th minute Academy broke the deadlock when Kyle Henderson’s free-kick on the right broke for Marc MacGregor, who found the bottom corner.
Just shy of the hour mark Wick got their second when a corner came out to Gordon MacNab at the edge of the box and he took a touch before finishing with aplomb.
Debutant a positive for visitors
With Lee Herbert ruled out due to a groin problem, 17-year-old Cammy Reid made his Turriff debut in goal.
Boss Warren Cummings said: “Cammy conducted himself really well. He was assured in everything he did and had no chance with the goals.
“We’re delighted with Cammy, he’s someone we’ve got high hopes for.
“It was a poor pitch to play on, it was windy and it was a poor spectacle really.
“We lost a poor first goal in terms of not dealing with a free-kick and once we went behind we huffed and puffed, but we never looked like getting back into it.”
Forres Mechanics 1–1 Formartine United
Formartine United manager Stuart Anderson was disappointed after their 1-1 draw away to Forres Mechanics.
The point means the Pitmedden team remain in seventh place, while the Can-Cans sit 10th in the Breedon Highland League table.
Formartine manager Anderson felt his team should have won the match based on the chances they created, whereas, Forres boss Steven MacDonald thought that a draw was a fair result.
Anderson said “Based on chances we should have won the game, we had better chances than them.
“There were a couple of chances in the first half where if the final ball was better then we get another goal.”
MacDonald said: “I thought a draw was a fair result, I was really pleased with the way the boys played.”
MacDonald also praised the performance and goal of former Crystal Palace academy player Jordan Alonge, who has impressed since signing for Forres in September.
He said: “Jordan’s been outstanding every week, he scored another quality goal as well.
“I’m delighted for him, he works very hard and is having a great season.”
Match action
The first goal would come against the run of play as Formartine took the lead through Paul Campbell, with a calm finish from a Julian Wade cut-back on seven minutes.
Mechanics nearly replied instantly through their captain Mark McLauchlan, who was denied by a comfortable save from goalkeeper Ewen Macdonald.
Wade proved to be a dangerous outlet and he nearly got a goal of his own midway through the first half.
A Calum Howarth mistake let Wade through to lob goalkeeper Cameron Farquhar before Ryan McRitchie performed heroics with an acrobatic clearance off the line.
However, Wade was forced off with a hamstring problem early in the second half and Forres equalised on 50 minutes.
Alonge found the net with a expertly placed free-kick that had been won by McRitchie. That was how it finished as both sides had to settle for a point.
Inverurie Locos 3-2 Rothes
Inverurie Locos left it late as they came from behind to defeat Rothes at Harlaw Park thanks to two goals in the closing minutes.
It was a turnaround that looked unlikely to happen with time running down but Locos boss Dean Donaldson praised the battling qualities of his players.
He said: “In the first half Rothes broke on us a couple of times due to us being slack.
“I took three players off at the interval but it could have been five or six. There was a feeling in the camp they could just turn up to win.
“However we showed real character in the second half and with urgency.
“The players just wouldn’t accept they could get a draw as they pushed on for the win.
“I’m delighted and proud of every one of them on the park at the end.”
The dice was thrown when key defender Mark Souter was pushed up front in the latter stages and he netted the equaliser as Donaldson added: “We don’t hide from the fact we struggle to score goals.
“Our forwards are too nice, they want to do the work outside the box, we want them in the box.
“Mark is a man mountain so we wanted him up front and in the box and it worked.”
Ross Logan opened for the Speysiders in 11 minutes, cutting in from the right, evading tacklers and lobbing high into the net with his left foot.
Slack play allowed centre forward Shaun Morrison to drive through and hammer home a second in first-half injury time.
Paul Coutts reduced the leeway from the penalty spot a minute after the restart.
A thunderbolt from substitute Cole Anderson was well saved by Sean McCarthy in 89 minutes but Souter pounced on the rebound to level.
It was another defender, Milosz Ochmanski, who powerfully headed home the corner from Coutts three minutes into stoppage time to win the game for Locos.
Rothes manager Ronnie Sharp said: “The confidence drained and the effort drained when we conceded the second goal.
“Even if we’d come and taken a point it would have been a big result.
“But despite all the effort we put in first half we were poor in the second.
“You have to drive your body right through to the end, I think that corner was the only one we conceded the whole game.”
Locos captain Greg Mitchell suffered a serious knee injury after coming on as a second half substitute.
He was taken by ambulance to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and is likely to miss the rest of the season.
Strathspey Thistle 0-2 Keith
Keith won their first match for three months after a hard-fought tussle at Seafield Park against Strathspey Thistle.
Two late goals, the first from Jordan Cooper signalling the Maroons’ 100th league goal against the Grantown men, and a stoppage time strike from Joey Wilson earned the visitors the three points.
Keith assistant manager Chris Craib said: “Over the piece I don’t think we were that great, to be fair.
“There was a lack of quality, our defensive clearances were poor and overall Strathspey probably had the best two chances in the game, but goalkeeper Craig Reid kept us in the game.
“The bit of quality we did have saw ‘Coops’ produce a fine finish.
“They threw the kitchen sink at us after that, and Joey’s finished it off well to put the game to bed.
“It was a tough watch from the side, but we got the three points which is the main thing.
“Previous performances have warranted more than we got, so maybe a bit of luck helped us over the line.”
Strathspey forced the pace in the early stages and Josh Race saw his shot blocked on the line, before Craig Reid tipped Dean Stewart’s net-bound header over the bar.
Play waved from end to end after that and as the game went on it began to look like ending goal-less.
That was, until the 71st minute when Cooper curled a super 18-yarder into the far corner of the net.
Then, with the hosts pushing everything forward, Reid came into his own defying them twice.
Thistle were caught out in stoppage time with goalie Ewan Storrier also upfield, and substitute Joey Wilson kept a cool head to lob the ball into the empty net from 15 yards.
Strathspey manager Ryan Esson said: “I felt we had the better chances and probably should have been at least two up in the first 20 minutes.
“The game evened out, but then we conceded a poor goal, and we should have scored two after that.
“We’re chasing the game and the second goal is irrelevant as we’d sent our goalie up as well.
“It’s a tough one to take as we need wins, but credit to Keith they kept us out, the goalie’s kept a clean sheet, and on another day we’d have won.”
Nairn County 0-2 Buckie Thistle
First-half goals from Fin Allen and Lyall Keir gave Buckie Thistle all three points against Nairn County at Station Park.
Allen bagged his fourth goal in as many games since joining on loan from Elgin City, before Keir bagged his 11th of the season with a crucial second just before the break.
Jags boss Lewis Mackinnon was pleased with the display from his charges.
He said: “It was a well-controlled performance. Nairn are a good side with some good attacking players, but we defended our box well.
“We took about 15 minutes to settle, but then we created some good opportunities and it was a class finish from Fin (Allen) when the chance came.
“The second goal was great running in behind from Lyall and Aaron (Nicolson) and Lyall showed good composure to finish it off.
“I felt we controlled large spells of the second half and it was a well-earned win.”
A busy opening period saw Aaron Nicolson have a couple of efforts at goal blocked for the visitors, before Andy MacAskill cut inside and fired a shot just wide of the right-hand post.
Calum McKay brought an excellent flying save from Mark Ridgers at the other end, then Darryl McHardy had an excellent defensive header over his own crossbar on as Nairn threatened an opener.
The Jags went in front on 18 minutes when MacAskill’s superb delivery from a corner was only knocked down by Dylan MacLean to Allen, and he rifled high into the net via the left-hand post from eight yards.
Ridgers had another good stop from a Lisle blast on 35 minutes, before Callum Mackay tested the Jags number one from a well hit free kick.
Buckie made it two on 41 minutes, Keir bundling the ball past MacLean after he raced onto a Marcus Goodall through ball.
Nairn pressed late on, but Andrew Greig was denied by a superb clearance off the line from Dale Wood.
Substitute Josh Peters almost made it three, hitting the post from close range then denied by a fine save from MacLean.
Nairn interim boss Brian Macleod said: “We actually started the game pretty well, created some chances and Mark Ridgers pulled off a couple of really good saves.
“Buckie then go up the park and score, but the goals we conceded were far too easy from our point of view.
“In the second half we huffed and puffed but didn’t really threaten them, which was disappointing.”
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