Fraserburgh F.C.

Recap

Evening Express Aberdeenshire Cup, Fraserburgh v Banks O’Dee, Wednesday 27th July 2022

The last two winners of the Evening Express Aberdeenshire Cup faced off at Bellslea Park with the home side looking for revenge against last season’s winners who had beat them 2-1 in this competition at the same venue just under a year ago. Neither side got into any rhythm early on with chances at a premium in the first 20 minutes.

The first chance of note came on 23 minutes when Zane Laird latched onto a through ball from Jamie Beagrie, however the impressive Ross Salmon came out smartly to block the Broch striker’s shot. A couple of minutes later Ross Aitken found Ryan Sargent with a pin point pass, but once again the ‘Dee defence stood strong and thwarted any danger.

The visitors were finding it touch to carve out any real chances and their first shot in anger saw Alasdair Stark fire in a drive from 30 yards just after the half hour mark which went sailing high over the crossbar. A few minutes later Mark Gilmour found space on the right and whipped in a dangerous cross which Robert Armstrong just failed to get on the end of.

The Broch finally made their possession and territorial advantage count minutes before the break when Willie West played a perfect ball into space behind the ‘Dee defence and Sargent ran onto it before calmly dispatching the ball behind Salmon into the net to give the hosts a 1-0 lead at the interval.

Half Time: Fraserburgh 1 Banks O’Dee 0

The home side thought they had doubled their lead on 54 minutes when Aidan Combe’s free kick from the left was floated into the penalty area Kieran Simpson managed to get a flick onto the ball to Bryan Hay at the back post who prodded the ball home, only for the far side assistant referee to raise his flag for offside against the Broch centre half.

Four minutes later Sargent’s corner from the left was cleared to the edge of the box where Jordan Guild met it on the half volley, once again a ‘Dee defender was in the right place to block the effort. Both sides then made a number of substitutions in an effort to freshen things up as the match headed for a nervy finish.

Two of the Broch’s changes combined to set up a chance on 83 minutes when Logan Watt found Scott Barbour inside the visitors penalty area and the Highland League’s top scorer from last season swivelled and got a shot off which Salmon did well to beat away. At the other end Magnus Watson saw his free kick blocked as time started to run out for the holders. Sean Butcher was yellow carded right at the end for a collision with Salmon in the ‘Dee goal, but the home side held on comfortably to progress to the next round with another home tie against Inverurie Loco Works.

Full Time: Fraserburgh 1 Banks O’Dee 0

Fraserburgh: Paul Leask, Ross Aitken, William West, Bryan Hay, Kieran Simpson, Paul Young, Jamie Beagrie (Logan Watt 88), Jordan Guild (Sean Butcher 70), Aidan Combe, Ryan Sargent, Zane Laird (Scott Barbour 70).
Sub not used: Jamie Maclellan, Connor Grant, Joe Barbour.
Goalscorer: Ryan Sargent (40).

Banks O’Dee: Ross Salmon, Alasdair Stark, Neale Allan, Darryn Kelly, Matthew Robertson (Kacper Lewecki 50), Marc Young, Hamish Macleod (Magnus Watson 60), Kane Winton, Jack Henderson (Neil Gauld 70), Mark Gilmour, Robert Armstrong.
Sub not used: Matthew Wallace.

Match Officials – Referee: Duncan Nicolson, Assistant Referees: Lewis Brown & Craig Veitch.