Banks o’ Dee secured the McBookie.com North Superleague title and a place in the Highland League play-offs with a comfortable 4-0 win over Montrose Roselea.
An early opener from Rob Armstrong followed by second-half goals from Jack Henderson, Lachie Macleod and a Roselea own goal ensured Dee’s place at the top of the table can no longer be contested.
The victory not only confirms the title – Dee’s fifth on the spin – but also Jamie Watt and Roy McBain’s side’s place in the play-offs which will give them a chance to win promotion from tier six to tier five.
Banks o’ Dee co-manager Jamie Watt said of the title-winning victory: “You want to get it done as soon as possible and it was a really good performance tonight to see it through.
“We were hoping to get it done here at Spain Park, and tonight we showed up and showed how good we can be.
“The Highland League play-off has been the carrot for us this season so now we have that chance to go and compete and get ourselves up there.
“It’s something we’re really looking forward to and when the time comes, whoever finishes bottom of the Highland League, you know it will be a big occasion.
“It’ll be a big game, but we have a lot of time to prepare and see who we are going to get.
“We have this platform to build on now and all the boys will be eager to be part of it come the business end of the season.”
Four goals and a fifth-consecutive title
The game couldn’t have started much better for the home side as Henderson chipped the ball towards the goalmouth and found Kacper Lewecki, whose initial shot was cleared off the line.
However, Armstrong was there to hammer home the rebound and give Banks o’ Dee the lead within the opening minute.
Roselea barely had a sniff in the game in the first half hour, but had a glorious chance to pull level when Liam Bailley got himself in a decent position to shoot, but his effort failed to threaten Fraser Hobday’s goal and rolled wide of the post.
It didn’t take long for Banks o’ Dee to double their advantage after the restart, as Henderson found himself unmarked at the back post from a corner in the 53rd minute and headed the ball into the net to make it 2-0.
Roselea defender Conor Mitchell turned the ball into his own net to make it 3-0 in the 68th minute, following a stramash in the box from an initial shot from Macleod.
Macleod got on the scoresheet for the fourth 10 minutes from time, with a simple tap-in beating McCormack from close range and confirming the victory for Banks o’ Dee.