Moray's Scottish Cup derby will pit Buckie Thistle manager Graeme Stewart against football pal and Forres Mechanics boss Steven MacDonald
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BUCKIE Thistle boss Graeme Stewart considers Forres Mechanics counterpart Steven MacDonald to be one of his football pals - but all that will be forgotten on Saturday.
Jags travel to Forres for their big Scottish Cup second round clash, knowing one Highland League club will make the third round draw from this tie.
Stewart is desperate to put one over Cans’ manager ‘Biscuits’ MacDonald, a former team-mate who he has remained in contact with over the years.
“We’ve had a great relationship, they got a couple of good players from us as well and it’s one of the clubs in the league that we get on well with,” Stewart said.
“I’ve known Biscuits for a long time from the days when I was at Caley and went on loan at Clach when I was 17 or 18 and he was there. So I’ve known him for 24 years.
“I’ve got a lot of time for him and I speak to him regularly. He’s got a great work ethic which transpired into his team which means that they are going to be working hard and well-organised.
“They’ve got some great players in their team in terms of ability, we obviously signed Dale Wood and Knighty (goalkeeper Stuart Knight) and they signed a couple from us.
“It’s a big day for both clubs and friendships will be forgotten for 90 minutes, and otherwise we will have a good chat afterwards.”
With the entire Highland League programme postponed on Saturday as a precautionary measure due to travel difficulties caused by Storm Babet, Jags at least had the luxury of an Aberdeenshire Shield outing at Inverurie Locos last Wednesday.
And they won 5-1 at Harlaw Park, a result Stewart was delighted with but not so much the performance.
Striker Josh Peters scored a fine hat-trick with Jack MacIver and Jack Murray also on target.
“We were very clinical and we didn’t waste many chances which was great to see,” Stewart said. “Up front we were buzzing, Josh, Jack and Max Barry were outstanding in the first half but I still think we can play better if I’m being honest.
“Out of the eleven, maybe six got pass marks for me. I would have liked more control of the game in midfield and our full backs needed to be better on the ball, they were giving it away too quickly and I didn’t like that. But we were delighted with the result and you would take a 1-0 away at Locos.
“I was trying to emphasise to the boys not to get carried away because we need to improve and it doesn’t matter what the scoreline is, there’s always areas for improvement and I am on top of that all the time.”
