Paul Campbell revealed he was fired up to shoot Fraserburgh to Evening Express Aberdeenshire Cup glory after a poor first half performance.
The striker bagged a second half brace to help the Broch to a 3-1 win over Formartine United in the 2020-21 edition of the Shire Cup, which was carried over from last season.
Fraserburgh trailed at half-time and Campbell wasn’t happy with his own display – but was thrilled to turn things around in the second period.
The 28-year-old said: “I didn’t play well in the first half and I had an extra incentive to try to change that in the second half.
“I don’t score many goals with my head, but for the first one the ball was there to be won, and the keeper (Ewen Macdonald) pulled out a little bit and I got there.
“That was the first goal and it changed the game a bit. I’m delighted with that goal and the second one killed it off really.
“The manager said (at half-time) I needed to keep doing what I do well and not to panic because we had plenty of time.
“I was told if I got my finger out I’d get chances and thankfully that’s what happened.”
‘A great feeling’
Scott Barbour also netted as Fraserburgh retained the Aberdeenshire Cup.
Man-of-the-match Campbell was pleased to pip his strike partner to that award, after missing out on it in the Broch’s last final, the Aberdeenshire Shield in January 2020.
He added: “It’s a great feeling to score in a final.
“Last year in the last final we played in the Aberdeenshire Shield it was 3-1, I got one and Scott got two and he pinched man of the match from me.
“I’ve been on at him since then so it was good to get one over him.
“But it’s an amazing feeling and I wish I could bottle this feeling – hopefully there’s more to come this season.
“Sometimes you don’t appreciate these things until a while after, but it’s brilliant.
“Getting fans into watch us is great, I had my own fans in with my dad, brothers, cousins and uncles and they’re the ones you look to when you score.
“It was great to share those moments with them – it’s brilliant to score and win the cup final. “
Formartine strike first but Fraserburgh hit back
After a lively start Formartine took the lead on 20 minutes when Scott Lisle latched onto a Jonny Smith header inside the area and beat goalkeeper Paul Leask with a neat finish from eight yards.
Barbour twice came close to equalising before half-time. First hitting the crossbar when clean through on goal and then shooting against the right post following Ryan Cowie’s quick free-kick.
But five minutes into the second period Campbell headed home after the Formartine defence misjudged Paul Leask’s long ball.
On 58 minutes Barbour made it 2-1 with a stunning left foot strike from 20 yards which whistled into the top left corner.
Despite Formartine’s best efforts they couldn’t find a way back into the contest and Campbell finished things off with 13 minutes left by collecting Andrew Paterson’s short backpass before rounding Ewen Macdonald to score.
Boss Cowie delighted
Fraserburgh manager Mark Cowie said: “It took us 45 minutes to get properly going. I can’t be too critical of the first half, Formartine hit us with a sucker punch.
“We created five or six clear-cut chances, hit the bar and the post so I wasn’t overly concerned at half-time.
“I knew we had the firepower to get back in the game and thankfully it turned out that way.
“I think we overpowered them at the end and our strikers clicked into gear.
“It’s great for the players and the fans and it doesn’t get old winning trophies.”
On Campbell, Cowie added: “I just reminded Paul what we expect of him (at half-time).
“It’s frustrating when you know what the guys can do and they don’t do it.
“We’re all trying to get our feet at the start of the season and once Paul gets going he’s very difficult to stop with his pace and power and he scored two great goals.”
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