Culter continued where they left off last season with a Cammy Fraser double and strikes from Craig Macaskill and Ryan Smart giving them a 4-1 victory in the Jim McPherson Trophy.
Lewis Hendry had given Rovers the early lead at Ian Mair Park.
Culter manager Lee Youngson said: “I was pleased with the performance.
“We won finals last season without playing well, today I thought we played well for large parts.
“Rothie started brightly pressing us with good intensity, but we expected that and handled that opening period reasonably well.
“They went ahead after a great strike from Lewis Henry so that asked us a different question to the finals of last season as we didn’t concede first in any of those.
“Despite that, we responded well, we were patient and saw a lot of the ball and deserved to get our equaliser which we got via an excellent free kick by Craig Macaskill.
“Cammy then put us 2-1 with a neat finish around 42 minutes, and within a minute it was 3-1.
“The third goal was really fortunate for us, it took a huge deflection and came at a good time on the stroke of half time, but I felt we were worthy of that lead as Cammy had two great opportunities during the first period which he would normally tuck away.
“We scored early in the second period, a great goal from Ryan Smart who was excellent all afternoon and in truth that finished the game.
“The remainder of the half we showed our experience and kept the ball well limited Rothie to any clear cut opportunities and could have scored a few more ourselves had we been sharper and more efficient in the final third.
“Rothie showed again today they will be a test for every team this season, no doubt they will be a great asset to the Premier League.”
JIM MCPHERSON TROPHY
CULTER 4 v 1 ROTHIE ROVERS
Lewis Hendry gave Rothie an early lead, however a double from Cameron Fraser and a Craig MacAskill goal gave Culter a 3-1 half time lead. Culter then scored just after half time through Ryan Smart. pic.twitter.com/3aW6xMDYBg
— NorthRegionJFA (@JfaNorth) July 30, 2023
Grill League Cup defence starts against Spain Park men
Tuesday sees the start of the Grill League Cup group action with holders Culter opening the defence of their title in Group 5 with the visit of Banks o’ Dee JFC while in the same section Hermes host Newmachar United.
Culter boss Youngson said: “It’s a different test, we only know a little bit about Banks o’ Dee, but what we do know is they have good young players, they like to get the ball down and play, and they carry lots of energy and running so for sure, we will need to perform well again to start the Grill Cup off with a win.
“We will likely make some changes, that’ll be required over the coming weeks to keep players who are playing with knocks as fresh as possible for what’s going to be a busy start to the season, but as always we will be picking a team suited for the opponent, and the game in general with aims of picking up our second win of the new season.”
In Group 4, last season’s runners-up East End welcome neighbours Bridge of Don Thistle with Glentanar travelling to Banchory St. Ternan while in Group 8 Sunnybank face Dyce at Heathryfold.
Stoneywood Parkvale, under new manager Sandy Carrol entertain Ellon United in Group 1 and in Group 3, Nairn St. Ninian make the trip to Islavale and Forres Thistle have home advantage against returning Whitehills.
In Group 6, Buchanhaven Hearts play Longside at Raemoss Park with Deveronside make the journey to College Park to face Fraserburgh United.
Dufftown are on the road at Lossiemouth United in Group 7 and New Elgin are at home to Burghead Thistle while in Group 2, Colony Park are at Cruden Bay with Rothie Rovers welcoming Maud to Rothienorman.
All games kick off at 7.30pm.
FIXTURES
TUESDAY, AUGUST 1
GRILL LEAGUE CUP: Banchory St. Ternan v Glentanar, Buchanhaven Hearts v Longside, Cruden Bay v Colony Park, Culter v Banks O’Dee JFC, East End v Bridge of Don Thistle, Forres Thistle v Whitehills, Fraserburgh United v Deveronside, Islavale v Nairn St. Ninian, Hermes v Newmachar United, Lossiemouth United v Dufftown, New Elgin v Burghead Thistle, Rothie Rovers v Maud, Stoneywood Parkvale v Ellon United, Sunnybank v Dyce.
Kick-offs 7.30pm.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 5
McBOOKIE.com PREMIER LEAGUE: Dyce v Ellon United.
GRILL LEAGUE CUP: Bridge of Don Thistle v Banchory St. Ternan, Buchanhaven Hearts v Deveronside, Burghead Thistle v Lossiemouth United, Colony Park v Rothie Rovers, Cruden Bay v Maud, East End v Glentanar, Forres Thistle v Islavale, Hall Russell United v Sunnybank, Hermes v Banks o’ Dee JFC, Longside v Fraserburgh United, New Elgin v Dufftown, Newmachar United v Culter, Stonehaven v Stoneywood Parkvale, Whitehills v Nairn St. Ninian.
Kick-offs 2pm.
