Hamish Munro says it’s important for Buckie Thistle to be challenging for silverware as they look to progress in the Evening Express Aberdeenshire Cup.
The Jags welcome Aberdeen to Victoria Park today with a semi-final against Formartine United the prize for the winner.
Buckie’s last trophy was the Highland League title in 2017 and Munro knows what it would mean to the club if they could be successful in the 2020-21 Shire Cup which has been carried over from last term.
The defender said: “It would mean a lot to Buckie to have success in the cup.
“The size of club that Buckie is and the support it gets at least a decent cup run or to be challenging in the league towards the end of the season is what’s expected.
“In most of the years I’ve been at the club we’ve managed to do that.
“As a club we want to be challenging for trophies and win things.”
Happy memories of previous success
Munro has good memories of playing in the Shire Cup having won the competition on two occasions.
In 2013 he was part of the Formartine United side which came from 2-0 down to defeat Inverurie Locos.
Three years later Munro was playing for Buckie and scored the winning penalty in a shoot-out victory against Cove Rangers after the Jags came back to draw 2-2 having trailed 2-0.
He added: “When I won it at Formartine we were 2-0 down at half-time and showed great spirit to come back and win 3-2.
“Winning it with Buckie against Cove was similar. We were behind to Cove who were regarded as the best team in the league at the time.
“We got it back to 2-2 and then ended up down to nine men in extra time but managed to get it to penalties.
“They had a chance in the shoot-out to win it, but our goalkeeper (Ross Salmon) saved it and I ended up scoring the winning penalty.
“That was one of the best feelings I’ve had in football and both those finals were great games to be involved in.”
Dons will be stiff opposition
Munro isn’t entirely sure what sort of Aberdeen side Thistle will face.
In previous years the Dons have fielded reserve and development players in the Aberdeenshire Cup.
If that is again the case this afternoon Munro is still expecting a difficult encounter.
The former Peterhead and Forres player said: “Normally in pre-season we might play a full-time side in pre-season as a fitness exercise really.
“Sometimes it can be a bit of chasing shadows if they’re fitter and sharper.
“We haven’t had this year. We don’t know what sort of team Aberdeen will bring, you would anticipate it being a relatively young team, but you don’t know for definite.
“Regardless of what team they put out they are full-time players who will be fit and sharp. It will a good test for us.”
