Buckie Thistle take on Aberdeen in Aberdeenshire Shield as hunt for silverware continues
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BUCKIE Thistle’s thirst for silverware takes them to Peterhead tonight, where an energetic young Aberdeen side stand in Jags way of another cup final.
Drawn away to face the Dons in the semis of the Morrison Motors (Turriff) Aberdeenshire Shield, with no Aberdeen venue available the Jags face a coastal trek as the tie has been switched to Balmoor Stadium.
With no league game on Saturday – Victoria Park was waterlogged and the home game against Lossiemouth was off – a two-hour training session on the Buckie astro was organised at short notice to get the squad in shape for their big game.
Assistant manager Lewis MacKinnon is growing tired of being reminded that Jags haven’t won any honours in their last six seasons, and feels his players deserve the wait to end – but they will have to earn it.
“We just want to win a cup now,” he said. “It’s been a few years now and we have been chapping at the door for so long, the team is good enough and deserve to win silverware so we really want to win this tournament.
“The attitude is the same for any competition we are in, we will try to win it and we will give it our best shot.”
Aberdeen beat Fraserburgh - who defeated Buckie in last year’s final - in a first round penalty shoot-out before thumping Turriff 5-1 to reach the semis, while Buckie won at Inverurie by the same 5-1 scoreline in the last round.
“We played Aberdeen last season in the Shield on our way to the final so we know what to expect,” MacKinnon said.
“We have played them many times and if you sit off them and give them time on the ball, they are good young pros who know how to pass it about well, they will be sharp and very fit and eager to impress their boss.
“So we will really need to be at it from the off but the boys are champing at the bit to get a game. It’s a semi-final, another chance to get to a final which we are eager to do so we will be ready for it.”
Buckie have won their last five games, spread over a stop-start two months caused by the weather.
Their last outing was the 1-0 Scottish Cup win at Forres Mechanics, which came at a cost with playmaker Andy MacAskill breaking his arm and now out until close to Christmas.
MacKinnon believes Jags are getting stronger game-by-game. “The guys are starting to know now automatically what they are doing and are learning from each other, move positions and move the ball about.
“With a lot of games coming thick and fast it’s all looking good for us.”
Keeper Euan Storrier has returned from a short-term loan to Forres Mechanics.
