Fraserburgh ruthlessly disposed of Keith 7-0 in the Highland League at Bellslea, scoring six times after the interval.
The Broch’s magnificent seven included a devastating blast of four goals in the last 10 minutes, with the victory not only preserving their unbeaten league record, but also providing the perfect response to their midweek Aberdeenshire Shield loss to Inverurie Locos.
Fraserburgh manager Mark Cowie revealed he demanded more urgency from his players in second half against Keith, having watched them only get on goal, despite their domination, in the first 45 minutes.
He said: “I wasn’t overly happy with the first half.
“For all the possession we had only one goal, and we let them in for a chance, so it could easily have been 1-1 at the break.
“We asked for more urgency in the second half, got the early second goal, and we ended up putting Keith to the sword a bit.
“We’ve had some tough games recently, but it’s another clean sheet with a few goals to add to the tally.”
With the spectators basking in Broch sunshine, the home side nabbed the only goal of the first half when Scott Barbour slammed home a Logan Watt pass.
The Maroons were presented with the perfect chance to level matters 10 minutes from time, but Andy Stewart dithered too long, allowing goalkeeper Paul Leask to thwart him.
Barely a minute into the second half, the Broch doubled their lead when a Willie West header hit the woodwork and Bryan Hay scrambled the loose ball over the line. A Gary Harris cross was then slid home by Barbour for the third.
Keith were handed another lifeline when Stewart was sent sprawling inside the box. However, Demilade Yunus struck the post with the spot-kick.
Lewis Duncan then hit the bar for Fraserburgh before the quartet of late goals left Keith gasping. Paul Young scored twice in a minute, before substitute Sean Butcher hit a brace of headers.
Keith manager Craig Ewen wasn’t impressed with his team’s late collapse, saying: “In the first half we competed really well, and the Broch didn’t trouble us too much. We kept our shape and had a great chance to equalise – a massive moment for us which we didn’t take.
“We competed until we missed the penalty. With about 20 minutes left, they then threw in the towel, which isn’t acceptable at this level. Capitulating for that 10-minute spell when we lost four goals. The Broch were clinical in the second half.”
Buckie move second after the MacAskill and Goodall show at Christie Park
A third successive league win saw Buckie Thistle move into second place on goal difference.
The Jags beat Huntly 2-0 at Christie Park.
Buckie manager Graeme Stewart was also pleased to see his side keep up an impressive scoring run with 14 goals in their last three league games.
Stewart said: “Huntly caused us problems, but it was a great performance and great win from us and that’s as good as we’ve played this season in terms of the performance .
“Andrew MacAskill had been struggling through the week, but, fair play to him, he’s scored the first and created the second goal before coming off.”
Stewart also paid tribute to goalscorer Marcus Goodall, 19, who had a loan spell with Huntly earlier in the season.
He added: “He was outstanding and was probably the best player on the park,
“He doesn’t give the ball away and his touch and pace shows he can be a problem against bigger players. He’s one who has a big future ahead of him.”
With just 14 seconds gone, Huntly keeper Euan Storrier pulled off a block at the near post to deny MacAskill.
A through ball from Jack MacIver in the 10th minute then picked out Huntly new boy Michael Dangana, who forced Jags goalie Kevin Main into a block.
The deadlock was broken after 34 minutes when a low cross from Max Barry was played into the home goalmouth and Goodall laid off MacAskill, who rolled a shot inside the far post for his fifth goal of the season.
Huntly came close to levelling in the 52nd minute. A Greg Buchan free-kick was worked into the visitor’s box to MacIver, who was denied by a great save from Main, with the keeper turning the shot round the post.
Buckie doubled their lead after 63 minutes. A quick break down the left wing saw goalscorer MacAskill turn provider for Goodall, who met the delivery first time with a low drive for his third goal in two games.
Despite the result, Huntly Manager Allan Hale was pleased with the performance.
He said: “We changed our system to deal with Buckie’s threats and to impose ourselves on the game.
“I thought the game plan worked and we restricted a good team who’ve scored a lot of goals.
“In the first half, we were really good and had two very good opportunities, but were denied by two good saves from Kevin Main in the Buckie goal.”
