Daniel Park insists the pursuit of silverware was the reason he opted to rejoin Formartine United in the summer.
Formartine make the trip to Fraserburgh for tonight’s Morrison Motors (Turriff) Aberdeenshire Shield semi final, with the chance to move within 90 minutes of retaining the trophy they won for the first time with a final victory over Banks O’ Dee last season.
Attacker Park, who returned to the Pitmedden outfit in the summer following a five-year stint with Cove Rangers, is intent on helping Paul Lawson’s men to challenge for trophies, as they aim to avenge a 2-1 Aberdeenshire Cup final loss against the Broch in October.
Park said: “I was at Formartine for two-and-a-half years. We won the Aberdeenshire Cup, and got beaten on the last day of the season for the league which was a bit of a hurt.
“We were up there challenging most years I was there so I had good memories, that’s why I came back.
“I’ve only won the Shield once with Cove. It’s a similar competition with similar teams to the Aberdeenshire Cup, but we want to win every cup we enter.
“In the cup final Fraserburgh were the better side by quite a distance, but we will be looking forward to trying to get into another final and winning it.”
Formartine are 16 points adrift of Highland League leaders Brora Rangers, albeit with three games in hand, however Park feels his side has started to click in recent weeks.
He added: “We went through a bit of a sticky spell, but we are still a relatively new team with seven or eight signings since the start of the season.
“Sticky spells are going to come, but I think we have come out of it now. We have played well against Fraserburgh and Buckie, so we go into this game on the back of a couple of, not great, but good results.
“They have been good performances so hopefully we can build on them.
“In the cup competitions or the league it doesn’t really matter how you get the win.
“Sometimes you are not going to play the best football or score the perfect goal, but we just need to work hard as a team and hopefully get the result.”
Fraserburgh assistant manager James Duthie reckons fine margins could determine tonight’s tie, and he said: “I have said it before – but there is nothing between the two teams. Both have a lot of good players.
“Our record against them in the last three or four games has been quite good, but we know it will be another tough game.
“It could just come down to whoever turns up on the day. I expect it to be another close game.”
