Fraserburgh’s Greg Buchan is hoping a more positive experience in this season’s Morrison Motors (Turriff) Aberdeenshire Shield.
The Broch welcome holders Banks o’ Dee to Bellslea tonight in the first round.
Buchan scored against Dee for Huntly in last season’s final, but then a missed in the penalty shoot-out as the Aberdeen side triumphed.
The 24-year-old, who also won the Shield in 2020 during his first spell with Fraserburgh, said: “I was close to having very fond memories from last season because the goal I scored was the first goal I’ve scored in a final.
“But then unfortunately I was the one that missed a penalty in the shoot-out.
“That’s part and parcel of football – if you step up in a penalty shoot-out there’s a chance you can miss.
“Hopefully I’ll have better experiences in the competition this season.”
Fraserburgh have already won the Evening Express Aberdeenshire Cup this term, but Buchan was cup-tied having featured in the tournament for Huntly.
He hopes that won’t be the only silverware they win this term, but knows this evening’s first-round tie won’t be easy.
Buchan added: “I knew when I moved that I was cup-tied and that’s just what happens.
“It was great to see the club win a trophy, although penalties is never an easy watch, but hopefully we can get through this tie and have a crack at winning something else.
“But we know it will be a really tough game against Banks o’ Dee.
“They’re a good side who will make it tough for us, but hopefully we can get a result.”
Dee want to keep Shield
Meanwhile, Banks o’ Dee captain Kane Winton is determined to try to retain the trophy they lifted for the first time last season.
The 27-year-old midfielder said: “We want to try to hold on to the Shield. We won the Aberdeenshire Cup last season as well, but we’ve relinquished that – which was disappointing.
“You want to keep the trophy in the cabinet for another year.
“The draw we’ve got means it’s a tough start in trying to do that, but we remember how great it was winning those trophies last season and we want to do it again.”
Dee and Fraserburgh meet again in the Breedon Highland League on Friday night and Winton admits he doesn’t enjoy facing the same team in successive matches.
But the Spain Park skipper hopes they can rise to the challenge.
He added: “Playing the same team back-to-back isn’t something I enjoy and particularly right now for us given the run of games we’ve had.
“We’ve played Deveronvale, Buckie and now it’s Fraserburgh twice.
“But that’s one of the things about the Highland League and one of the reasons why we wanted to come in – there’s not a much bigger challenge than playing Buckie and then Fraserburgh twice in the space of a week.
“Our mindset needs to be right and we need to enjoy the challenge.”