Buckie Thistle are into the second round of the Scottish Cup but they had a real battle on their hands against a rejuvenated Lossiemouth side at Grant Park.
A first half double from Marcus Goodall gave Buckie a deserved interval lead but a spirited second half display from Lossie halved the deficit and but for the width of the crossbar there could have been extra-time.
A relieved Buckie boss, Graeme Stewart, said: “The most important thing is we are through to the next round.
“The first 25 minutes is the best we have played all season, we should probably have been three or four up.
“I don’t think we played well in the second half but fair play to them they kept in it and gave us a hard game in the end.
“But we are not going to expect performances like that. It was a frustrating second half but we will learn from it.”
The Buckie boss felt there was a foul in the lead up to Lossie’s goal, adding: “Hamish Munro got clipped in the build up but it’s a poor goal from our point of view.”
Buckie started the match strongly and they took the lead in the fifth minute when Andy MacAskill played a defence-splitting pass to Goodall who drilled the ball into the far corner of the net.
Lossie were unable to keep a hold of the ball into the opening spell and it was no surprise when Buckie doubled their lead in the 17th minute.
Sam Pugh threaded the ball through to Goodall who produced another clinical finish past Lossie goalkeeper Logan Ross.
Lossie’s first effort on goal came three minutes later but Ross Morrison’s shot flew high and wide of the target.
Buckie went all out to kill the tie and a snap-shot from Buckie skipper Pugh almost brought about a third goal but Ross pulled off a fine diving save.
Lossie were on the front foot from the start of the second half and they got back into the tie with a well worked goal in the 54th minute.
Fraser Forbes, who replaced Ross Elliot just before half time, skipped past a couple of defenders to set up the chance for Ross Archibald to nod home at the back post.
Buckie almost restored their two-goal advantage shortly afterwards but Pugh’s goal-bound header was cleared off the line by James Leslie, then Buckie sub Scott Adams fired straight into the arms of Ross.
In a frantic finish to the tie Lossie almost snatched a leveller when substitute Scott Thomson crashed an effort off the crossbar then Baylee Campbell scooped the rebound over the bar.
Lossie manager Joe Russell said: “We were unlucky – just the width of the crossbar kept us from making it 2-2 and taking it to extra-time. But that’s the breaks you get.
“Buckie beat us 6-0 here earlier in the season but we gave them a few problems and a bit of a battle. It just shows you how far we’ve come in such a short space of time.”
Formartine United 3-1 East Stirlingshire
Formartine United earned a place in the second round of the Scottish Cup after coming from a goal down to defeat East Stirlingshire at North Lodge Park.
Two goals in a minute after the break turned the game the way of the home side before a thunderous strike from man of the match Aaron Norris sealed the win.
United boss Stuart Anderson said: “We started brightly and should have been three up, but we didn’t take our chances and they scored from a corner.
“We lost our way a bit in the last 20 minutes of the first half and stopped doing what we’re good at.”
“It wasn’t a hairdryer moment at half-time, we just reminded them to get the ball forward quicker and in the end we could have scored five or six in the second half.
“We’re delighted to be in the next round, there are other clubs who probably should have won today that haven’t.
“We were expected to win and we’ve done that, so we can park the cup now and move on to another big game next Saturday.”
Formartine started well and Scott Lisle was denied by an excellent block from Ross Connelly after he was played through on goal, then Connelly tipped a powerful header from Lisle over the crossbar from the resultant corner.
Home skipper Kieran Lawrence had a low effort deflected just wide from 12 yards after being set up by Tyler Mykyta in the 15th minute.
East Stirling went ahead in the 32nd minute when Ewen Macdonald spilled a cross under pressure and Andy Hay slammed home from close range.
Formartine turned the game around with two goals in the space of a minute early in the second half.
Mark Gallagher’s superb in-swinging corner sailed beyond Connelly and was turned into his own net by Tony Coutts on 49 minutes, then Ryan Spink’s long throw from the left was poked home from close range by Kieran Adams.
Norris grabbed a vital third goal for United, following up an initial blocked effort from Lisle to rifle low into the net from 16 yards.
East Stirling manager Derek Ure said: “We gave them too many chances early on, but then we got to grips with the game and could have been another goal ahead before half time.
“The first 10 minutes of the second half was not good enough from our point of view, but Formartine have got themselves into a good position and managed the game better than we did.”
