Aberdeen coach Barry Robson was disappointed with his side’s lack of cutting edge as they exited the Evening Express Aberdeenshire Cup.
Scott Adams scored the only goal as Buckie Thistle recorded a 1-0 win at Victoria Park to set up a semi-final clash against Formartine United.
Robson admitted his young side enjoyed plenty of possession, but precious little penetration.
He said: “It was this group’s first game. In football, getting 75% or 80% possession means nothing unless you score goals.
“We looked nice on the eye until a certain point, but we had no end product.
“We never looked our normal attacking threat and that can come down to fitness, sharpness and game time.
“We controlled the game in large spells.
“We made a mistake and they capitalised, but we never threatened them enough.
“The biggest thing to take is to get our fitness levels up.
“When that comes, the sharpness will come and we will start to look more of a threat.
“Some of these guys played 90 minutes for the first team on Thursday (against Caley Thistle) so we have to take that into account as well.
“But every Aberdeen team that is coming up here, no matter what age, should be winning the game.
“That is the demands of the football club.
“On another day if we were fitter and sharper we may have won, but credit to Buckie Thistle as I thought they were outstanding.
“They defended deep, worked hard and looked organised as we knew they would be.”
There was a crowd of 500 at Victoria Park for the encounter, including a large contingent of Aberdeen supporters.
Robson added: “It was outstanding. The fans have been waiting a long time to come back and watch a game of football.
“It would have been better if we had produced a bit more style to our play.
“Hopefully we can get some of these players promoted to the first team.
“They need to perform better than they did on this occasion if that is going to happen.
“If you want to play for an Aberdeen first team, you need to be at it every day, standing out and being the player with the most enthusiasm.
“Then you can’t keep these players out of the team.
“We didn’t see it from them and that is frustrating because we have a lot of good players in that team.
“If you want to be a top player you need to stand out in a game like this and take the game by the scruff of the neck.”