Charlesworth senses Buckie bounce
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FESTIVE derby match-winner Martin Charlesworth admits he is drawing inspiration from how close Deveronvale came to snatching the Highland League crown away from the Jags last season as the champions bid to reel in leaders Forres Mechanics.
Buckie Thistle moved into fifth place in the league with a 1-0 win over the Banff side, but still trail the Mechanics by 10 points and have played two games more.
However, they kicked off what Charlesworth hopes will be a strong second half to the season with a festive win over ’Vale last Friday in front of a bumper 1,200 Christmas crowd.
The immediate aim is to get themselves top of the chasing pack and in position to pounce when Forres hit a rocky period.
"This time last year everybody was saying it was Buckie’s league and we had it wrapped up. Deveronvale were 15 points off us at a later stage in the season and they could have won it on the final day," said Charlesworth.
"League titles are not won at Christmas, but it is definitely Forres’ to throw away, without a shadow of a doubt.
"We want to be the team in second place to capitalise if they have a blip. They are having a pretty immaculate season so far but we know they will hit a sticky patch and it is a question of how many points they drop when they do."
Charlesworth senses a new mood of purpose in the Buckie camp after enduring a difficult run of results in recent months.
They travel to Banff on Friday night for the second leg of the festive double header against Deveronvale.
Log on to www.northern-scot.co.uk/football on Friday night for a roundup of the Highland League Action.
