Greg Buchan is determined to win silverware with Huntly after their agonising defeat in the final of Morrison Motors (Turriff) Aberdeenshire Shield.
In their first final since 2008, the Black and Golds were defeated 5-3 on penalties by Banks o’ Dee after a 3-3 draw at Harlaw Park.
Buchan was the only player who didn’t net in the shoot-out with Lee Sweeney making a good save.
But the midfielder believes Huntly will be better for the experience.
The 24-year-old said: “It shows how far the team has come this season and what (boss) Allan Hale and (assistant) Stefan (Laird) are trying to build.
“Banks o’ Dee are a great side and we’ve gone toe-to-toe with them and, at 2-0, you think it might be our night.
“But, even with our performances in the league where we’ve gone toe-to-toe with teams like Fraserburgh and Brora, it will hopefully be the start of us competing with the better teams.
“And hopefully this won’t be our last final and it will be the start of something good.
“It has to be motivation for us – sometimes you have to lose before you can become winners.
“Hopefully the next time we get to a final we’ll remember how we feel just now and use that to win the next one.”
Buchan gutted by spot-kick miss
It was a gut-wrenching end for Huntly, who put their vocal band of supporters through the mill.
They led 2-0, before falling 3-2 behind, but rallied to force penalties.
Buchan – who was outstanding during the 90 minutes and scored his side’s first goal – was bitterly disappointed not to net from the spot.
He added: “At 2-0 up against them, I was really proud of the boys’ efforts.
“But we probably let them back in the game too easily. We should have been able to manage it a bit better.
“Even going 3-2 down, we showed bravery to get back in the game and take it to penalties.
“It’s a lottery when you get to that stage and I stepped up and took one, but somebody will miss to decide the game and unfortunately it was me.
“You’ve got to be man enough to deal with that. It’s devastating just now, but I want to be a leader in this team and I think in time I will be.
“Those are the things you have to deal with. When you go up to take a penalty, you back yourself to score.
“And everyone else’s penalties on both sides were brilliant and unfortunately it’s me that’s missed.”
