Fraserburgh boss Mark Cowie hailed super-sub Sean Butcher’s goalscoring knack after his late winner against Brora Rangers at Dudgeon Park.
The Broch triumphed 2-1, courtesy of Butcher’s stoppage time strike, to move up to third in the Breedon Highland League.
Following torrential rain it appeared the fixture was in doubt.
However, Brora worked to clear standing water from the surface and although the pitch was heavy, both sides were willing to play, and referee Gordon Morrison sensibly gave the game the go-ahead.
Cowie said: “I’m delighted to get three points at a difficult venue. The park was OK, certainly 75% of it, one bit wasn’t the greatest.
“But fair play to everyone for getting the game on. We were of the attitude we didn’t want to come up and not have a game, Brora wanted it on as well and the referee used common sense.
“The ball held up at times, but I’ve seen worse and everyone deserves credit for getting it on.
“I was wondering where the winning goal was going to come from, but when you’ve got guys like Sean on all he needs is one chance.
“He’s got an unbelievable knack of being there when the ball drops and next thing you know it’s in the net.
“The last few games we’ve played it’s been a running theme that the subs have made an impact.
“Nobody wants to be a sub, but with the way we like to play you do a lot of running and you’re not going last 90 minutes Wednesday, Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday.
“You need a squad and I’m delighted with them.”
Fast start
The Broch took the lead in the first minute when Ally MacDonald’s attempted clearance from Scott Barbour’s in-swinging corner came off Cattachs defender Millar Gamble and flew into the net.
In the fifth minute Brora had a penalty appeal turned down by referee Morrison when Jordan MacRae went down after getting in behind Willie West.
Then Ryan Sargent and Scott Barbour sent attempts from inside the box narrowly wide as Fraserburgh pushed for a second.
But in 21st minute Brora levelled. Dale Gillespie’s cross from the right was headed down by Kyle MacLeod at the back post and Gregor MacDonald showed neat footwork to evade a challenge and finish from 10 yards.
Before the break Scott Barbour stung the palms of home goalkeeper Logan Ross from 16 yards. At the other end Joe Barbour made good stops to keep out attempts from Ali Sutherland and Tony Dingwall from the edge of the box.
In the second period Fraserburgh enjoyed more territory and efforts on goal with Brora struggling to create in the final third.
Kieran Simpson and Bryan Hay had headers saved by Ross and Sargent was flagged offside after flicking a Greg Buchan free-kick into the net just after the hour mark.
A Scott Barbour drive from 25 yards was also turned away by Ross, but the Broch’s winner arrived in the second minute of stoppage time.
Scott Barbour’s corner from the left was nodded down by Hay at the back post and Butcher was on hand to finish from close range.
Boss takes responsibility
Brora have won only one of their last six games and player-manager Ally MacDonald said: “That’s not Brora Rangers.
“I take full responsibility, it’s hurting us and we’re working hard trying to address it.
“We’re in a bit of a rut and the only way to sort it is to work hard. With the games coming thick and fast you get the chance to get back into form quickly.
“We made the worst possible start conceding after a minute and it was soft from our side.
“We got ourselves back into it with our goal and we were looking all right.
“We addressed a couple of things at half-time and hoped we’d get a bit more joy in the second half, but we struggled to get out.
“For the most part we defended reasonably well and dealt with it.
“We lost a soft second goal and with the rut we’re in these sort of mistakes or errors are going against us which is frustrating. But we can do better within that.”
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