Inverness Caley Thistle progressed to the third round of the Scottish Cup – but were given a scare by Highland League Buckie Thistle.
Daniel MacKay’s late goal was required to separate the sides in an entertaining tie at Victoria Park.
Inverness’ reward for their win is a trip over the Kessock Bridge to face Ross County in Dingwall a week on Saturday in round three.
Buckie in their first competitive fixture since Boxing Day made five changes from the side which defeated Albion Rovers 3-0 at Cliftonhill in the first round.
Former Aberdeen youth player Max Barry, 19, was brought in for his debut with Daniel Bell, Lewis MacKinnon, Hamish Munro and Sam Urquhart also restored to the side.
Andrew MacAskill, Scott Adams, Joe McCabe, Sam Morrison and goalkeeper Martin MacKinnon – who had been on loan from Inverness – missed out.
Inverness made six changes to the side which defeated Dunfermline on Saturday.
Goalkeeper Cameron Mackay was brought in along with defenders Ryan Fyffe, Harry Nicholson and Kevin McHattie and attackers James Keatings and Miles Storey.
Mark Ridgers, Brad McKay, Danny Devine, David Carson, Shane Sutherland and Nikolay Todorov dropped out.
Frenetic start
The Championship visitors made a quick start and hit the front after only 40 seconds.
Daniel MacKay charged down the left side and when his cross wasn’t fully cleared by Buckie Keatings was on hand to swivel and fire home from 10 yards.
Soon after MacKay beat the offside trap but fired a low angled effort beyond goalkeeper Daniel Bell but just wide of the far post.
The Highland League side grew into the game and had a penalty claim turned down after nine minutes when Keatings bundled into the back of Kyle MacLeod, but referee Steven Reid was unmoved.
Buckie equalised after quarter of an hour. Urquhart’s inswinging corner from the left in a swirling wind clipped the junction of right post and crossbar, but MacKinnon retrieved possession on the right and his pinpoint cross was headed home by Jack Murray from six yards.
Caley Thistle moved ahead again on 27 minutes when Sean Welsh was allowed space 30 yards out to lash a swerving shot beyond goalkeeper Bell.
Although Inverness were the superior side, Buckie were dogged opponents with Urquhart having a shot from the edge of the area held by Mackay before the interval.
Scrappier second period
The second period didn’t begin at quite the same frantic pace as the first, but Buckie were solid and limited Inverness’ chances.
Meanwhile, going forward home captain Kevin Fraser headed into the side-netting from Mark McLauchlan’s deep cross.
The next goal in the contest was always going to crucial. If Caley Thistle got it was going to be hard to see a way back for Buckie.
But it was the part-timers who looked more likely to find the net, with Barry’s switch of play releasing McLauchlan into the box on the left flank, but the full-back sent his angled effort over shortly after the hour mark.
At the other Caley Thistle sub Cameron Harper cut in from the left and curled a shot over.
But Buckie were giving as good as they got. To provide such a stern examination having not played competitively for three months and having only been allowed to return to training earlier this month was a credit to them.
With 10 minutes remaining Bell made a pivotal block from Storey to ensure the score remained at 2-1 and shortly after Sutherland was inches away from turning in a Welsh free-kick.
With six minutes remaining Buckie equalised. Substitute Callum Murray charged down Fyffe’s attempted clearance before beating Mackay.
But parity was only restored for a minute with a scramble in the Buckie box ending with MacKay controlling and finishing from close range.
