Paul Lawson delighted as Banks o’ Dee beat Aberdeen to win Aberdeenshire Shield

Lachie Macleod gave the Highland League side the lead after 10 minutes, before Chris Antoniazzi doubled their advantage with 12 minutes left to play.

By Sophie Goodwin

December 14 2023, 8:40 am

Banks o' Dee celebrate with the Aberdeenshire Shield. Image: Kami Thomson/DC Thomson

Paul Lawson was delighted after Banks o’ Dee secured their first piece of silverware this season by beating Aberdeen 2-0 to win the Morrison Motors (Turriff) Aberdeenshire Shield.

At Balmoral Stadium, Lachie Macleod gave the Highland League side the lead after 10 minutes, before Chris Antoniazzi doubled their advantage with 12 minutes left.

It is the second time Dee have won the Aberdeenshire Shield, having lifted the same piece of silverware in the 2021-22 season when they beat Huntly in the final.

Banks o’ Dee captain Kane Winton lifts the Aberdeenshire Shield. Image: Kami Thomson/DCT Media

Dee co-manager Lawson admits it was not the best showpiece against the young Dons, but was delighted his side secured the win, as he said: “I don’t think it was a great game, to be honest.

“We did what we had to do and I think we worked hard. We scored two great goals and they were probably the two bits of quality in the game.

“We limited Aberdeen. They had the opportunity inside the opening ten minutes and hit the post, but we stuck to the game plan. We knew it was going to be hard.

“Full credit to our boys. We’ve had to deal with a lot in the build-up – the change in date to suit Aberdeen and two of our boys who play for us most weeks have missed out on a medal because they picked up injuries in the last couple of weeks.

“Credit to our lads because they stuck to it and we’re just delighted to get the win.

“It’s great to win silverware anytime in the season. The boys deserve it. The last few months we’ve had more consistency in our game.

“The sides we have beaten to get here (Hermes, Formartine United, and Huntly) – it’s not been an easy run, so full credit to the boys and hopefully we can kick on for the rest of the season.”

Aberdeen’s Finlay Murray has a shot at goal. Image: Kami Thomson/DC Thomson

The Aberdeen XI coach Scott Anderson was left disappointed by the result, but says playing in the Aberdeenshire Shield has been an invaluable experience for his side.

He said: “I said to the boys after the game how good an experience this has been for them.

“We have really enjoyed the tournament. We have had good challenges in the previous rounds and the final was another challenge, but we could not quite overcome it.

“We will learn from that. There is the Aberdeenshire Cup that we will look forward to playing in and, as a group, we will look to go one better in that competition.”