The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Highland sides up against it in cup
Forres Mechanics manager Charlie Rowley is predicting mixed fortunes for north clubs in the third round of the William Hill Scottish Cup this weekend.
One of Rowley’s former clubs Buckie Thistle take on Brechin City and the Mechanics manager said: “Buckie had a great IRN-BRU Cup win against Brechin but given the form Buckie have shown in recent weeks, with injuries and such like, they certainly won’t be going into this one as favourites.
“Brechin are a Championship side and after that defeat at Victoria Park they won’t be taking Buckie lightly. Given Buckie’s current injury list, I will go for Brechin to edge this one.
“Formartine were brought back to earth after their Aberdeenshire Cup triumph against Cove Rangers when they went down 3-1 at Inverurie Locos last weekend.
“If the Pitmedden club had beaten Locos I would have made them favourites against Forfar this weekend, but I think this one will end up being a draw.
“Fraserburgh face a really tricky trip to Spartans. That is a toss of coin for me. The Broch are away from home and that could give Spartans a slight advantage, but Fraserburgh have a great Scottish Cup tradition and it wouldn’t surprise me if they won or took them back to Bellslea.”
Brora face a mammoth 620-mile round trip to Stranraer for their tie and Rowley said: “I’m not sure if that long journey will take anything out of Brora or not but on their day Brora are more than capable of beating Stranraer.
“However, a draw would be a great result for the Highland League side. Banks o’ Dee have quite a few ex-Highland League players in their ranks, including former Keith and Formartine United goalkeeper Andy Shearer and veteran striker Jamie Watt, who won the league with both Deveronvale and Cove Rangers.
“The juniors are at home to Ayr United and have nothing to lose. Dee have already knocked out Linlithgow Rose, Selkirk and Huntly, scoring eight goals and conceding only one, it’s the Scottish Cup, so you just never know.”
Inverurie Locos manager Neil Cooper says he has never been happier after pledging his future to the club.
The 58-year-old, who took charge at Harlaw Park in January, has signed a two-year contract extension that will keep him at the club until the summer of 2020.
The former Forfar Athletic and Aberdeen under-20s manager said: “I am delighted to be working for Inverurie Locos, a well-structured club with chairman Mike Macaulay and his vice-chairman Graeme Hay, as well as the committee members, the players themselves and my backroom staff, who have also renewed their contracts as well. We are a progressive club.
“I keep telling the players that they don’t realise just how much effort people behind the scenes put in at this club to keep it going.
“They don’t just rely on people coming through the gate, other things such as the matchday hospitality packages help make up any shortfall in paying the players’ wages.
“I’ve never been happier in my footballing career. I love working for Locos, they’ve been fantastic to me and I’m looking forward to the future.”
Locos are sitting in third place in the Highland League after defeating Formartine United 3-1 on Saturday.
Cooper, whose side travels to Keith this weekend, added: “I have been involved in full-time football and in part-time as manager at Forfar Athletic for two-and-a-half years and I think I did a good job there.
“The whole place here at Locos is vibrant. There are so many different things going on at the club with partnerships with Aberdeen FC and Colony Park juniors.
“Harlaw Park is a fantastic place to be. We get fantastic support from our main sponsor Cala and maybe it’s because of my part-time job out of football as an estate agent that I’m maybe now more relaxed.
“Football has changed, especially the way you handle players, but you still need punctuality, hard work and to make sure you give your all.
“If you have a bad game that’s acceptable, but what isn’t acceptable is if you don’t turn up for training, or if you’re not punctual, and as a result you don’t give your all for the club.”
“I’ve never been happier in my career. I love working for Locos”