Fraserburgh moved up to sixth position in the Highland League with a 7-0 victory against bottom-of-the-table Rothes last night.
Strikes from Michael Rae, Ryan Christie, Aiden Combe, Grant Noble and a Steven Davidson hat-trick gave the hosts a convincing win at Bellslea Park.
The result leaves Mark Cowie’s team only a point behind fifth-placed Nairn County, while Rothes remain rooted to the bottom with only one point from 20 matches.
Fraserburgh made three changes from the team beaten 4-1 by Falkirk with Michael Rae, Steven Davidson and Grant Noble replacing Willie West, Dean Cowie and Graham Johnston. Rothes included two trialists in the starting XI and another two trialists on the bench.
The opening goal arrived for the Broch after 14 minutes with midfielder Rae, a recent acquisition from junior side Maud, stroking the ball beyond Matthew Mackie for a composed finish. The hosts almost doubled their advantage five minutes later when John Chalmers was unfortunate to curl just wide before Rothes stopper Mackie made an excellent save to deny Davidson.
Fraserburgh were unable to convert their early superiority into goals, with Cowie and Davidson both firing wide from promising positions.
The Rothes resistance finally gave way three minutes from the break when Davidson stooped to head home the second from an in-swinging corner from Noble.
The home side grabbed a third just before half-time when a Ryan Christie effort deflected past Mackie.
Fraserburgh extended their lead after 56 minutes when Davidson’s downward header was spilled by Mackie and the attacker smashed home the loose ball.
The Broch made a change after 63 minutes with Aiden Combe introduced for Marc Lawrence and the substitute made an immediate impact, finishing off a well-worked move within 30 seconds of entering the play to put the home side five ahead.
Davidson completed his hat-trick with eight minutes remaining when he headed home a Marc Dickson cross.
The Fraserburgh forward almost netted his fourth moments later, only to be denied by another fine save from Mackie.
But the Broch scored a seventh in injury time when Noble tapped home from close range after a mazy run from Buchan.