Aberdeenshire Shield: Fraserburgh 1-0 Keith
By Grant Milne: A solitary second half strike from Graham Johnston saw Fraserburgh knock Keith out of the Morrison Motors (Turriff) Aberdeenshire Shield first round tie at the Bellslea Park; the only game to beat the weather.
Fraserburgh made a number of changes to their starting line up with Graham Johnston returning from suspension and he was joined by a posse of youngsters with Zac Conway, Scott Barbour and Sean Bremner the "front four". Keith had Odmar Faeroe back in the middle of the park joining Craig Phillips and Andy Macaskill to make it three out of four youngsters in the middle of the park. Indeed the average age of the eight midfield players on show was less than 23, even with Dean Donaldson in there.
The first shot on target of the game came halfway through the first half when a right footed Andy MacAskill free kick curled around the wall struck the crossbar and spun high into the air, when it did come back down Cammy Keith rose highest but his downward header was well taken by young keeper Joe Barbour - making only his second top-team appearance for the club.
Following the substitution of Craig Phillips due to a knee injury (replaced by Sean Keith in the 25thminute) the Broch created their first opportunity. It was carved out down the right hand side with Sean Bremner playing the ball on to Graham Johnston but his attempt to lob Andy Shearer from the edge of the box landed on the top of the net.
The second half began with Scott Barbour hitting a rasping volley from range in an effort to test Andy Shearer but his shot skidded just past the post. As the half progressed the home team introduced PA Bruce and Allan Hale from the bench for youngsters Sean Bremner and Zac Conway.
Halfway through the second period Marc Dickson went close with a long range effort only just cleared the crossbar, but they only had seconds to wait to make the breakthrough. Fraserburgh won the ball from the resulting goal kick and within seconds Graham Johnston was racing into the penalty area and he blasted a shot across Andy Shearer and into the far corner of the net in a carbon copy of Samaras' opener for Celtic v ICT at the weekend.
The home team were in command at this stage and a superb turn by Scott Barbour saw him ghost past two defenders and hit a low shot which was parried by Andy Shearer before being cleared by Odmar Faeroe with Graham Johnston on the prowl.
As we entered the last ten minutes Marc Dickson set off on a driving run down the right and his cross was med by Dean Cowie who headed narrowly over. Then Allan Hale whizzed a shot just past post before, a minute later, he drifted in from left and struck a shot which was heading towards top corner but was turned around the post by Andy Shearer.
The game should have been put out of site in the first minute of injury time when Scott Barbour skipped past Kris Niddrie his way was barred by Graham Lonie. Scott Barbour took the responsibility from 12 yards but saw his penalty saved by Andy Shearer, diving to his right and on the rebound Allan Hale seemed to get the ball stuck under his feet initially but when he did get the shot away Shearer put it past the post for a fruitless corner.
In the end the miss was academic as Fraserburgh deservedly went through against a Keith team who will be glad to see the back of the Black and Whites this term having also lost at the Broch on the opening day of the season.
Fraserburgh: Joe Barbour, Hay, Main, Dickson, Christie, Dean Cowie, Bremner (Bruce 54), West, Conway (Hale 57), Johnston (McBride 85), Scott Barbour.
Unused Subs: Mark Cowie, Cooper.
Keith: Shearer, Jack, Lonie, Niddrie, Walker, Faeroe, Phillips (Sean Keith 25), McAskill, Cammy Keith (Anderson 72), Lennox (Fowlie 83), Donaldson.
Unused Subs: Kinnaird, McAllister.
Referee: Martyn Kerrigan
Attendance: 211.
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