Huntly reach Aberdeenshire Shield final and manager Allan Hale would love the club to win their first silverware in 14 years - and his first as a football boss
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PROUD Huntly manager Allan Hale is relishing his club's appearance in the Aberdeenshire Shield final, and wants to end the club's long wait for silverware.
It's 14 years since black and gold ribbons appeared on a north trophy, when the Christie Park side won the North Challenge Cup - the old Qualifying Cup - in 2007-08.
And the last time Huntly reached a final was the following season when they were defeated 5-2 by Keith in the Aberdeenshire Cup final in September 2008.
They will end that wait to play a showpiece match when they take on either Buckie Thistle or Banks o' Dee - who play next Tuesday - in the Shield final, which is expected to be contested early in 2022.
Hale is on a high after his team's thrilling 2-1 win over Inverurie Locos at Christie Park in Wednesday night's semi-final.
"I’m just delighted we are there and we can actually give the board and the supporters a night that they will remember in getting into their first final in 14 years," he said.
The Huntly boss has lifted the Shield himself as a Fraserburgh player, but had never won a trophy as a manager during spells in the juniors and at Keith in the Highland League.
"We beat Banks o Dee at Peterhead 5-0 one year for Fraserburgh, so I'm fortunate enough to have won it before.
"I have been in a few finals as a manager and unfortunately always came out on the losing side so it would be great to win a trophy as a manager. Every manager and player wants to experience that."
Goals by Kyle Dalling and Greg Buchan took Huntly from behind for Wednesday's victory, avenging two previous losses to Locos in the league and Highland League Cup this term.
"You are up against a top team in Locos, they are an excellent side and have been really consistent since their new manager (Richard Hastings) came in," Hale added.
"They are up there towards the top end of the league and when you play these teams with the quality that they have in the forward areas, you are always going to have to ride your luck at times.
"I thought we stifled them relatively well throughout the 90 minutes and restricted them to very few clearcut opportunities, and I thought we posed a threat, certainly when we went 1-0 down.
"We changed our shape and went to two strikers and I thought we started to pin Locos back and cause them a lot of problems."
Dalling's equalising goal drew some controversy, with Locos insisting the ball didn't cross the line but referee Joel Kennedy awarded it amidst loud protests.
Huntly's run in the competition, with wins over Turriff, Deveronvale and Locos, comes at a time when league points have been hard to come by.
The Black and Golds have won just one league game against bottom dogs Fort William since picking up three victories in a row in August.
Hale hopes that run will end at Lossiemouth tomorrow, and paid tribute to the endeavours of his squad through a period where injuries have hit Huntly hard.
"The players have dealt with so much adversity in the past few weeks.
"It has been a very difficult run but results haven’t always merited the performances that we have been putting in.
"The one thing is that the players have never allowed themselves to get defeated with the poor run of form, they have always maintained the belief and worked hard at training and stayed together through this.
"A result like the semi-final is just reward for the commitment and the sacrifices that they make.
"What we maybe lack in terms of consistency and quality at times, the players certainly made up for it with their heart, their spirit, their determination and their togetherness as a football club.
"That showed through against Locos and I am really, really proud of the players."
