Early goals from Jay Halliday and Garry Wood earned Inverurie Locos a 2-0 victory against Keith and a place in the quarter-finals of the Morrison Motors (Turriff) Aberdeenshire Shield.
The Railwaymen, who have won this competition on three occasions, started this first round tie at Kynoch Park in fine form and were two goals up after 16 minutes.
Keith kept plugging away right up to the full-time whistle but were unable to overturn the deficit.
Keith made one change from their 6-1 weekend win against Strathspey Thistle with Lewis Coull replacing Stewart Hutcheon.
For Inverurie Jamie Michie and Matthew Petermann came in for Nathan Meres and Lloyd Robertson as Richard Hastings shuffled his pack after Saturday’s 2-1 victory at Wick.
Prior to kick off there was minute’s silence in memory of former Deveronvale and Keith striker James Pirie who died aged 59 earlier this week.
Locos strike early
The visitors started well with Wood glancing a Robert Ward cross from the left against the crossbar in the fourth minute.
The ball bounced down before being claimed by goalkeeper Kyle Irvine, but referee Lee Robertson and assistant Alan Proctor ruled it hadn’t cross the line.
A minute later the Railwaymen did take the lead.
Wood found space on the left flank and his low centre was swept home by Halliday from 10 yards.
In response to falling behind James Brownie dragged a free-kick wide and Tom Andrews shot straight goalkeeper Andy Reid from 20 yards.
Just after the quarter hour mark Inverurie doubled their lead with Wood heading home Calum Dingwall’s free-kick from the right.
Locos were looking to press home their advantage and Dingwall’s drive from 30 yards was beaten away by Irvine.
In the 35th minute Mark Souter released Ward down the left, but his shot slipped beyond the far post.
Keith struggled to make much of an impact in the final third during the first period with moves breaking down in midfield too often for their liking.
Hosts needing spark
Realistically the Maroons knew they needed the next goal if they were to mount a comeback.
But early in the second half there weren’t too many signs it would be forthcoming.
The first decent effort after the interval was an angled strike from Ward which Irvine did well to smother at his near post.
Just after the hour mark Brownie managed to release Kieran Mooney down the right side, but the striker was unable to pick out team-mate Matthew Tough in the middle or send an effort on target himself.
Inverurie were still a threat with Ward heading narrowly over from a Dingwall corner but with a two-goal cushion they didn’t need to force the issue.
In the 72nd minute Keith midfielder Brownie worked Reid with an effort from 25 yards, but the goalkeeper dealt with it comfortably enough.
As time ticked down Inverurie sub Taylor Thain let fly from the edge of the box but was denied a goal by an excellent save by Irvine at full stretch.
In the 87th minute Irvine made another great stop to push away Wood’s header after a rapid raid down the left flank from Ward.
