Brora put eight past Buckie
Brora Rangers 8 :: Buckie Thistle 1
Brora Rangers maintained their unbeaten start to the season with a comprehensive victory over Buckie Thistle at Victoria Park on Saturday.
The Cattachs ran out 8-1 winners and signalled to all that they are in no mood to relinquish their Highland League crown.
Speaking after the match, manager Richard Brittain described it as a “thoroughly deserved win from a team playing 100 per cent for each other”.
It was Buckie who started brighter and the Brora defence came under immediate pressure, with both Munro and Houston being called on to block goalbound shots.
The quick Buckie forward line looked dangerous and Cattach supporters had to endure a difficult opening third of the match. As the half progressed Brora gradually became more dominant and had several good chances, before Zander Sutherland put them ahead in 21 minutes.
He scored from the penalty spot after Andrew Grieg was bundled to the ground in a clumsy challenge.
The goal seemed to relax Brora and they began to play some delightful football. A second was added soon after when Steven Mackay headed home from an Andrew Greig corner.
Brora reverted to a more direct approach with long balls from Gillespie, Munro and Morrison causing the Buckie back line no end of problems.
It was no surprise when three more goals were added from Sutherland, Mackay, and the workmanlike Brindle, before half time.
During the final 15 minutes of the first half Brora were dominant both on and off the ball. Had it not been for some heroics from the Buckie keeper, Strong, the deficit could have been greater. Brora made it 6-0 early in the second half with perhaps their best goal of the game. Man of the match Greig made another wonderful jinking run down the left flank, leaving the Buckie defence all at sea, and crossed over the perfect ball.
A dummy by Paul Brindle wrong-footed the Buckie back line and Zander Sutherland was there to secure his hat-trick with the sweetest of strikes past the hapless keeper.
Despite the scoreline Buckie never gave up and pulled a goal back on 54 minutes with a strike worthy of winning any game.
A mistake by Williamson at the back saw him dispossessed by Paul Napier, who fired an unstoppable drive home from 25 yards giving Joe Malin no chance whatsoever.
It was the first goal Brora had conceded on league duties this season.
The Buckie goal signalled the changes for Brora, with Joe MacDonald and Martin Maclean replacing the reliable Lewis Grant and Paul Brindle.
Buckie continued to work hard and never let their heads drop, despite the scoreline. Kevin Fraser was denied a second for Buckie, as unbelievably he saw his effort scooped off the line by Malin, who showed just why he is the meanest stopper in the league.
Brora played the remainder of the game out knowing all three points were safely secure. But Steven Mackay still had time to score a further brace with a lovely header from a Morrison cross and a simple conversion, making it four on the day and nine in the last two games for the league’s most prolific striker.
Mackay is clearly sending out an early signal that he’s up for retaining his top dog spot in the Scottish goal scorers’ pecking order. On this form, it’s easy to see why.
Three games into the season and a mood of optimism prevails around Dudgeon Park, but greater challenges lie ahead.
Brora will need to iron out some uncharacteristic sloppy defending which nearly cost them dearly early in this game.