Assistant manager James Duthie says being in the Premier Sports Cup has been a great experience for Fraserburgh.
The Broch’s Group B campaign came to an end with a 2-0 defeat against Championship side Partick Thistle at Firhill.
Although the Breedon Highland League champions have been beaten in all four League Cup ties Duthie believes the experience has been worthwhile.
He said: “It was really tough up against a really good side. It’s a long journey on a Tuesday night, it was a hot night, we didn’t have the ball much and we were maybe five players short with injuries.
“But in terms of effort I couldn’t fault them. They ran a lot, they chased a lot and kept a decent enough shape.
“Our quality in possession was poor because we were tired and we can do better in that area.
“But it’s been a good experience playing in this cup and we’ll take a lot from it in terms of what we need to do to get better.”
Ready for title defence
Fraserburgh start their Highland League title defence at home to Deveronvale on Saturday.
Duthie added: “We’d love to have a few more bodies back in terms of injuries or to have recruited one or two.
“That’s not happened but we’ll see how Ryan Cowie, Paul Campbell and Lewis Davidson are.
“Jamie Beagrie is back for Saturday which is a boost for us.
“The Highland League is tough but we feel we’re ready for it, it’s been a good pre-season with really good competitive games.
“I’d much rather be tested in these games than play meaningless friendlies and it’s been a brilliant learning experience for us.”
Broch perform with credit
It was Fraserburgh who had the first opening with Lewis Duncan finding space on the left and picking out Aidan Combe inside the area, but his shot was deflected into the hands of goalkeeper Jamie Sneddon.
For Thistle Cammy Smith and Kyle Turner went close in the early stages.
Fraserburgh had defended superbly but as the first half wore on they gradually dropped deeper and deeper and fell behind on 32 minutes.
Jack McMillan found space on the right flank and his low cross was stabbed into the net by Broch defender Bryan Hay when attempting to clear.
Five minutes shy of the interval Combe headed over from Kieran Simpson’s tempting delivery as Fraserburgh rallied.
Before the half was out Graham slipped in Cole McKinnon for the Jags, but goalkeeper Joe Barbour raced out to block.
Then Smith broke through on goal but Barbour got fingertips to the shot and Ross Aitken’s sliding clearance kept the score at 1-0.
The second Jags goal arrived shortly after the hour mark with Kevin Holt’s cross from the left picking out Brian Graham on the right side of the area and the former Ross County striker took a touch to control before finishing from 10 yards.
Partick kept probing in the final quarter, but Fraserburgh stuck to their task resolutely and can take heart from the way they acquitted themselves.
