Buckie Thistle striker Josh Peters fired down Highland League leaders Brora Rangers with a Victoria Park double to add to the four first half strikes he netted at former club Strathspey Thistle three days earlier
One of the best goals of his career completed Buckie Thistle striker Josh Peters’ six-goal blitz in the space of two Highland League games last week.
Jags continued their resurgence in form by defeating league leaders Brora Rangers 3-2 on Saturday, a result that opened up the title race.
Peters scored twice against the Cattachs to add to the four first half goals he netted in Wednesday’s 4-1 win at his former club Strathspey Thistle.
The former Elgin City, Livingston and Queen’s Park front man’s goal tally this term has been restricted by injury but a return to the starting line-up has coincided with his best run of goals, and a rise up the table for his team.
“I've had low game time and probably not had the highest confidence this year,” he said. “Those couple of games have definitely helped.
“The boys have been growing as well and it’s keeping my spirits up as well. The more goals I score the more games I'm going to play from the start.”
A scorer of 29 goals in his first season for Buckie and 20 more last term in the title-winning campaign, Peters has pushed this season’s total up to 14 with his productive week and with five games left, he hasn’t ruled out breaking the 20-barrier for a third consecutive year.
“I just need to try and keep doing that and keep myself in the team,” he said.
“We've got young players now who want to take my place - and they have done.
“They've done really well when they've played and I've got a bit of competition compared to the last couple of years - and you need to have that.”
A clear sign of Peters’ growing confidence was the brilliant third Buckie goal he scored on Saturday against Brora.
“It’s probably one of the best goals I've scored in years,” he said.
“It was just one of those ones where as a striker you know where the goals are. I don't even think I'd looked up at the goals.
“I tried to take a touch out of my feet and the pitch was a wee bit dry. It got stuck under my feet and I just knew where the goals were, so I've just whipped it and it went in the top right corner.
“All three of our goals were good team moves as well. That's the best we've played as a team all season, I'd say.
“Brora have probably been the stand-out team this season and maybe they didn't expect us to put in a performance like that either.”
The league leaders grabbed an early lead through defender Colin Williamson, before on-loan Elgin City striker Fin Allen levelled and Peters scored on the half hour mark to give Jags a half time advantage.
His superb 52nd minute goal made it 3-1 and even with Brora’s Matty Wright pulling one back near the end, there was no doubting that Buckie were worthy winners.
Peters made his six goals in less than 72 hours with his match-winning double, in addition to his spectacular scoring burst in Grantown.
Against the club he started his Highland League career for, he netted on 25 and 36 minutes, then added two penalty conversions for a 19-minute quadruple, which he later learned wasn’t even his fastest hat-trick for the club.
“A couple of years ago when I'd just signed for Buckie, we beat Strathspey 8-0 and I scored four in the second half.
“I’ve been told I scored four in 19 minutes in that game as well, twice against the same team.”
Peters overtook team-mates Marcus Goodall and Lyall Keir to the top of the Buckie scoring charts this season, and will be geared up for adding to his total when Jags visit Forres Mechanics on Saturday.
