Huntly 2 Buckie Thistle 3: Colin Charlesworth labels game 'a great advert for Highland League football'
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A STRONG Huntly performance yielded no points as the Black and Golds lost out to a last-minute Buckie Thistle winner in a 3-2 thriller at Christie Park.
The match was the visitors’ last before Sunday’s Scottish Cup clash with Celtic at Parkhead – an added dimension which seemed to be working in Huntly’s favour early on.
A big crowd saw Huntly come flying out of the blocks to race ahead through Angus Grant.
The Jags were level by half-time thanks to Darryl McHardy and went ahead through Max Barry after the break.
Brodie Allen levelled the scores with five minutes to go but Buckie grabbed an 88th minute winner through Jack Murray to claim all three points.
Manager Colin Charlesworth said: “It was a great advert for the Highland League football.
“That was two real good top-end Highland League quality teams going at it punch for punch.
“I think we shaded it over the piece in terms of chances created, but you can’t defend set pieces like that and expect Buckie not to capitalise.
“They are where they are for a reason –they find a way to win games and that’s what they did.”
The speed at which Huntly began the game seemed to catch the visitors off-guard – with Angus Grant in particular giving the visiting backline a headache.
The opener came when he capitalised on goalkeeper Stuart Knight’s handling mistake to stroke in from close range.
Buckie steadied the ship and levelled through Darryl McHardy’s effort from a corner, and then took a 52nd-minute lead through Max Barry’s composed effort.
Huntly levelled on 84 minutes through sub Brodie Allen’s late strike which found the bottom right-hand corner, but the Jags pressed forward and grabbed a winner when Jack Murray prodded high into the roof of the net after a corner.
Charlesworth added: “If you try to set your stall out to contain Buckie and be hard to beat I don’t think it works in your favour, I think it works against you because they find a way to win games.
“So you don’t change anything, go business as normal and try to get a second and a third goal if you can.
"Not very often do you get that opportunity against Buckie, but I thought we could have had two or three before they had one – but that’s the way it goes, that’s football.”
Saturday’s match was as frantic on the pitch as the last couple of months have been off it at Christie Park – but Charlesworth is convinced that things will calm down now.
Michael Dangana followed Lyall Booth to join manager Allan Hale at Elgin City, making his debut for the Black and Whites in League Two on Saturday.
“It has been a bit of a whirlwind since I came in and there has been a lot going on,” Charlesworth said.
“It is no secret that players like Michael Dangana and Lyall Booth wanted to play at a higher level – and rightly so because they are good enough for it. It’s an opportunity now to come in and take their chances.”
One of the players looking to make an impression is Matthew Wallace, who made his debut as a substitute on Saturday.
“Matty is a lad I played with at Vale and I know his quality,” he added. “Every time I played with him we were a better team when he was in it.”
Huntly are due to visit Keith on Saturday.
