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Evening Express Aberdeenshire Cup previews – Keith look to spring a surprise against Aberdeen; Deveronvale and Buckie head to Longside for derby

The Maroons face the Dons at Peterhead's Balmoor Stadium with the Banffers and Jags clashing at Davidson Park, Longside.

Keith manager Craig Ewen has been preparing his side to face Aberdeen in the Evening Express Aberdeenshire Cup.
Keith manager Craig Ewen has been preparing his side to face Aberdeen in the Evening Express Aberdeenshire Cup.

Keith boss Craig Ewen wants to cause a shock against Aberdeen in the Evening Express Aberdeenshire Cup.

The quarter-final tie between the Dons and the Maroons is being played at Peterhead’s Balmoor Stadium because the rain of recent days has left Kynoch Park waterlogged.

With Keith second bottom of the Breedon Highland League coming up against full-time opposition Ewen believes the odds are stacked against his team.

But he is hopeful if the Moray outfit play to their potential they could spring a surprise.

The winner of the tie will be at home to Inverurie Locos or Formartine United in the last four.

Ewen said: “It’s a free hit for us really, we want to get through and if we could that would be great.

“But if we don’t it will be the outcome people expect to happen with Aberdeen going through.

“We’ll give it our best shot – at the weekend the players competed well against Banks o’ Dee (in a 2-0 loss).

The Keith players will hope their celebrating after their Shire Cup clash with Aberdeen.

“If we repeat that work-rate and commitment to the task then we’ll give ourselves a chance.

“I’m expecting a strong Aberdeen side. We saw in the Aberdeenshire Shield they fielded strong teams and I’d imagine this will no different.

“They’re full-time and they’ll be a good side, but we need to try to compete as we have been in recent games.

“We’ll need to be difficult to beat and try to pose problems on the counter-attack.”

Stuart Duff will be in charge of Aberdeen. It’s likely his side will include the likes of Alfie Bavidge who is on-loan at Kelty Hearts and Formartine United loanees Aaron Reid and Adam Emslie.

Deveronvale and Buckie head for Longside

Elsewhere, Deveronvale and Buckie Thistle meet in a local derby on neutral territory.

With the Banffers’ Princess Royal Park missing a floodlight and the Jags’ Victoria Park blighted by a drainage issue, the sides meet at Davidson Park, home of Junior club Longside.

The change of venue hasn’t detracted from the desire of both sides to reach the semi-final, where they would be away to Fraserburgh or Hermes.

Deveronvale goalkeeper Sean McIntosh said: “There were a lot of venues spoken about to potentially play it at – it’s not ideal obviously not being able to play at home.

Deveronvale goalkeeper Sean McIntosh, left.

“As player you just have to deal with the situation and try to make the best of it. Hopefully we can do well and get through.

“It’s a big game for the club and we had a few tight games against Buckie last season without coming out on the right side of the result.

“It would be nice if we could change that this time, but Buckie are a good team and we know it won’t be easy.”

Jags attacker Scott Adams added: “It’s a bit of a shame for the fans with the issues with our ground and their ground which means they’ll have to travel further to watch.

Buckie’s Scott Adams.

“But I’m sure there will still be a good crowd for what is a derby and a big game.

“We want to try to go further in the competition. We had a really tough game against Banks o’ Dee in the last round and it was good to get through on penalties.

“The competition is a chance to try to win some silverware and we want to keep progressing.”

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