Ellon Academy defeated Banff Academy 3-1 to win the J M Low Senior Trophy at Fyvie Park.
Aidan McCormick was causing the Banff defence problems on the Ellon left and it was no surprise when he set up the opening goal in 16 minutes when he cut the ball back for Aaron Buckle to slot beyond Scott Riddoch.
Five minutes from the break, Aeden Gray doubled Ellon’s advantage by heading home from eight yards from an Aiden Brookes corner.
Ellon notched a third after 65 minutes when McCormick’s corner was powerfully headed home by Lewis Strachan.
Banff almost pulled a goal back through Taylor Barron but his shot finished just wide of the post.
Ten minutes from the end they did manage to get on the scoresheet in somewhat bizarre circumstances when a free kick from 20 yards out took a number of deflections before finding the net off the leg of an Ellon defender.
Banff threw everything at Ellon in the closing stages but were fortunate not to concede again as a breakaway saw Ryan Slessor clean through on goal, but his left footed attempt spun narrowly wide of the post.
The last chance fell to Banff with three minutes left to play when Keiran Anderson headed narrowly over.
Portlethen prove too strong for Cults
Portlethen Academy lifted the President’s Trophy thanks to a 2-0 win against Cults Academy at Lochside Academy.
Tom Chalmers went close for Portlethen before Jamie Cowell managed to bring out a good save from Cults keeper Noah Blanksby.
Cults went close on the half hour mark when a fine pass from Innes Alexander found Finlay Mackintosh whose shot beat Blair Thompson then hit the left-hand post and rolled along the goal line before being hacked clear to safety.
Cults appeared to be gaining a grip on things especially when a header from Matthew Young caused more problems for the Portlethen defenders, but they managed to stand firm.
But seven minutes from the break, Portlethen broke the deadlock when a Chalmers drive was spilled by Blanksby and Chalmers pounced on the rebound to net the opener.
Portlethen almost doubled their advantage early in the second half when Ben Brown’s 20-yard drive smashed off the post.
Cults pushed for a goal as time ticked down and they were caught on the counter-attack with three minutes to go but Chalmers was denied by the woodwork.
But Portlethen made sure of the win in injury time when Callum More sped down the right, held off a defender and fired the ball beyond Blanksby and into the corner of the net.
Conversation