Fraserburgh overcame two red cards to run out 3-0 winners against Wick Academy.
The home side controlled large parts of the match despite their numerical disadvantage to pick up all three points and record a clean sheet which pleased assistant manager James Duthie.
He said: “The first half performance wasn’t that great and losing a man early in the second didn’t help so we decided to bring on the experience of Willie West and Jamie Beagrie to manage the game.
“Wick never really troubled us until late on when Joe Barbour made a great save.
“That’s seven wins and a draw out of our last eight now, while that’s good there are still parts of our play which we need to tidy up.”
The Broch took an early lead on six minutes when good play between Ryan Sargent and Connor Wood on the left released Scott Barbour and his cross was palmed away by Wick goalkeeper James More into the path of Logan Watt who tapped home from close range.
Today’s team line ups for the Breedon Highland League match between Fraserburgh and Wick Academy #theBroch @leagueHighland pic.twitter.com/2ic38E0kvF
— Fraserburgh FC (@FraserburghFC) January 27, 2024
The second half burst into life after 55 minutes when Fraserburgh’s Josh Bolton was red carded for an off the ball incident on the far touchline.
The home side made a couple of changes, bringing on Beagrie and West and it was the latter who got on the end of free kick delivery from Scott Barbour on the right flank to head home on 65 minutes.
Seven minutes later the Broch made the points secure with a third goal.
Scott Barbour saw his effort well saved by More but the rebound fell kindly to Watt who drilled home from the edge of the penalty area.
Wick rarely troubled the home defence, but they hit the woodwork twice in the final ten minutes, first through Gordon Macnab with Joe Barbour getting a hand to tip the Wick striker’s effort onto the crossbar and then when Ross Gunn saw his shot come back off the post with the Broch keeper beaten.
In between those efforts Willie West received a second yellow card for delaying the restart of the game.
Wick boss Gary Manson was disappointed his side couldn’t take advantage of their numerical advantage.
He said “In the first half there was nothing in it, they scored early on but after that it was quite even.
“They then had a man sent off and maybe our players thought it would be easier to play against them but I told them after the game it doesn’t matter whether Fraserburgh have five players they still have quality that can hurt us.
“We’re struggling to find goals at the minute and we can’t seem to find the rub of the green or the have that bit of composure in front of goal when it matters.”
Formartine 3-0 Clachnacuddin
Formartine manager Stuart Anderson felt his side were always in control of their league fixture against Clach as they made it 13 points out of fifteen since losing their Scottish Cup tie against Falkirk.
Anderson was delighted to see his team return to winning ways against Clach after sharing the points with Rothes in midweek in an encounter he felt that could be tricky
following Clach’s recent good form.
Anderson said: “Although we didn’t win on Wednesday night I felt it was a good performance to only get one point.
“But in terms of the Clach game we didn’t give them a sniff of goal and scored three times while we also kept a clean sheet.
“We are in good form since our Scottish Cup exit so we are happy with what we are doing at present and need to keep going as every game throws up its own challenges.
“It was a great strike by Graeme Rodger for the third goal but he has done that for years.
“Both of our strikers also got a goal so that was also pleasing in what was a good team performance.
“That includes our substitutes who played their part and added to the win by adding a bit of energy to the game as we know we will need the whole of our squad as the season continues.”
Clach manager Conor Gethins said: “I said to the lads at the end that I feel a bit disheartened for them as we competed well, especially in the first half.
“We were frustrating them again in the second half with the way we setup and I thought there was potential to get something from the game.
“But we lost the second goal followed by a quick third goal, which was a great strike from Graeme Rodger, and the game was dead.
“We battled away and should have had a penalty late on for the keeper’s challenge on Findlay Mackenzie, something I didn’t understand as the foul was given against our player.”
Julian Wade opened the scoring just after the half hour as he forced home Adam Emslie’s free kick for his 43rd goal in just 68 appearances for United before Aberdeen loanee Aaron Reid grabbed the second on the hour mark.
Skipper Graeme Rodger found the top corner from 22 yards for a superb third four minutes later as he took his goal tally for the club to 104 goals.
Strathspey 1-6 Brechin City
Breedon Highland League leaders Brechin City proved to be too strong for basement club Strathspey Thistle, running our 6-1 winners in the top versus bottom clash at Seafield Park.
City grabbed the opening goal after 12 minutes when home skipper James McShane headed past his own keeper following a Jamie Richardson cross.
The visitors doubled their lead four minutes later when Luke Strachan drilled a low ball across the face of the goal for Ewan Loudon who fired home from close-range.
The Strathy Jags pulled a goal back five minutes later when a 20-yard drive from Jack Davison took a slight deflection on its way past City keeper Jamie McCabe.
But City moved up a couple of gears after the break and further goals from Richardson, substitute Grady McGrath (2) and Marc Scott five minutes from time sealed a comprehensive win for the leaders.
City boss Gavin Price said: “I was disappointed with the manner in which we lost the goal but I felt that the players over-thought things in the opening 45 minutes.
“Strathspey had a lot of bodies behind the ball for long periods but I felt that we were making things difficult for ourselves by over-complicating things.
“In situations like that it’s a matter of getting crosses into the box and getting bodies forward into the penalty area which we didn’t do enough of in the first half.
“However, we were much more effective after the break and scored a further four goals so over the pierce the performance was satisfactory.
“Despite the final scoreline I think a lot of credit has to go to Strathspey who worked extremely hard throughout the game.”
Strathspey manager Robert MacCormack said: “We haven’t played for six weeks but I thought that we battled really hard, particularly in the opening 45 minutes.
“We set ourselves up in a way which we felt we would be hard to beat and tried to hit Brechin on the counter-attack whenever we had the opportunity.
“After the break Brechin showed their strength with the depth of their squad and the fact that we hadn’t had a competitive match for six weeks was a major factor as the players tired in the closing stages.
“Despite our defeat I have to be pleased with the efforts our players put in.”
Evening Express Aberdeenshire Cup tie between Buckie Thistle and Banks o’ Dee switched to Spain Park
