Buckie Thistle were made to work hard to break down the resistance of 10-man Turriff United.
The visitors had to play for 86 minutes without their goalkeeper after Fraser Hobday was sent off in the game’s first serious challenge.
Despite going in his side’s favour, it was a decision Buckie boss Graeme Stewart found hard to understand.
He said: “It was the worst decision I’ve seen in my life.
“Our player Craig Cowie was running in on goal and kicked the ball out of the park. I don’t even know if it was a foul.
“That ruined the game as our players took their foot off the gas as they thought it would be easy but that’s their own fault. It knocked us off our stride as Turriff became more defensive and hard to break down.
“We lost a bad goal, our left back should have gone closer and our goalkeeper let the ball go through his hands.
“But we quickly recovered, grabbed a quick equaliser then it was all us in the second half. In the final third though it was poor decision making, poor finishing and great saves.
“Andy Macaskill and Kevin Fraser ran the game but I wish the second goal had come earlier as it would have saved a lot of anxiety. I was impressed with the attitude of my players and it’s now three wins in a row for us.”
Hobday’s early ordering off was the talking point of the game but it allowed 16-year-old Tim Findlay to come in and make his debut.
In 19 minutes, the 10 men took a shock lead when Angus Grant sent Gavin Elphinstone away on the right. He left the Jags defence in his wake with his low right-footed shot beating Lee Herbert.
Within two minutes the sides were level when a cross from the left was played back across goal by the head of Fraser for Marcus Goodall to fire home.
The rest of the half was all about Findlay growing in confidence, even getting a bit of luck when a Sam Urquhart hit the post and the ball bounced into his arms.
The pressure from the home side increased greatly in the second half, with Owen Kinsella twice clearing off the goal-line.
Three goals in the final 15 minutes at last clinched the points.
In 76 minutes Findlay pushed a shot away to his left but Fraser retrieved it from the bye-line before teeing up Scott Adams to convert.
Adams rounded Findlay and rolled the ball home 10 minutes later before Goodall completed his brace with a long-range chip.
Turriff assistant Graeme Mathieson said: “I felt the sending off and the final scoreline was really harsh on us.
“But we’ve blooded a 16-year-old goalkeeper who did really well for us in almost his first full game since leaving boys club football.”
