Buckie Thistle progressed to the third round of the SPFL Trust Trophy by defeating Brora Rangers 4-2 on penalties at Victoria Park.
A pulsating tie finished all square after 90 minutes with Andrew Macrae cancelling out Josh Peters’ opener for the Jags before the hosts triumphed on spot-kicks.
The draw for the third round is at 1pm on Monday and Thistle will be in the hat alongside sides from the Championship as well as two sides from Northern Ireland and two from Wales.
Buckie boss Graeme Stewart rung the changes following Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Brechin City in the Breedon Highland League.
Lee Herbert, Shaun Wood, Mark McLauchlan, Tom MacLennan and Kyle MacLeod were drafted in to start.
Brora gaffer Craig Campbell made one alteration from their 4-0 weekend success against Rothes with Tom Kelly replacing Dale Gillespie.
Exciting start
In an entertaining opening Jags captain Kevin Fraser shot into the side-netting in the first 20 seconds and Andrew MacAskill had a curling effort held by Joe Malin.
At the other end, Jordan MacRae netted after Herbert parried Macrae’s strike, but the offside flag was already up.
In the 19th minutes Malin did well to tip away MacAskill’s cross-cum-shot from the left flank.
From the resultant corner, MacAskill’s delivery was flicked on by Jack Murray to Wood, but his header was straight at Malin.
Moments later Herbert was forced into a scrambling save after Colin Williamson tried to find the right corner with a quickly taken free-kick from 25 yards.
Both sides were producing from decent passages of play as the game raged from one end to the other.
However, the final pass, cross or shot didn’t quite have the quality to break the deadlock.
Herbert was worked again by Macrae’s snapshot from the edge of the area, but it was a routine save.
After 35 minutes Peters did well to create some space on the edge of the box but Malin produced a magnificent one-handed save to claw the left-footed effort away.
Before the first half was over another Macrae shot was deflected just wide and at the other end Malin made another flying save to repel Fraser’s rasping 25 yard drive.
Hosts break deadlock
Buckie had the first chance of the second period with Peters beating Kelly on the left and sending in a low cross for MacLeod whose sliding effort was blocked by Malin.
But in the 49th minute, the Jags did open the scoring. Wood delivered a pinpoint cross from the right and Peters fired a right-footed volley into the left corner from 14 yards.
Seconds later it was almost 2-0 with MacAskill’s strike from 20 yards deflected against the right post before Malin smothered Fraser’s scuffed attempt on the rebound.
Brora regained their composure after that with Gillespie introduced from the bench in an attempt to gain control in midfield.
The equaliser arrived for the Cattachs in the 71st minute when Macrae played a one-two with Gregor MacDonald on the edge of the area before breaking clear of the home defence and rounding Herbert and finishing from close range.
Both sides kept trying to win it in the closing stages, but despite their best efforts, neither managed it and penalties were required.
In the shoot-out MacDonald and MacRae’s attempts were saved by Herbert which meant conversions from Sam Urquhart, Peters, MacAskill and Sam Pugh sent Buckie through.
