Buckie Thistle notch up 16th consecutive Highland League victory but can't dislodge Fraserburgh from top spot
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A SWEET 16 Highland League wins in a row still can’t put Buckie Thistle on top of the league.
Saturday’s 3-0 success over Huntly kept the Jags bandwagon rolling on, yet manager Graeme Stewart believes his team may have to win their remaining matches as well to come out on top in the closest league chase in years.
Fraserburgh remain top by a point following their 5-0 success at Keith while Brora and Brechin kept their winning runs going to stay in touch with the front two.
“We have 10 or 11 games left in the season, hopefully 11 if we can get to the cup final,” said Stewart. “We just need to keep it going.
“It would be difficult to win them all but that is the aim just now. It almost feels like someone is going to have to win all of their games to win the league.
“Hopefully it is us.”
The 16-game Highland League winning run
Oct 6 - Buckie 3 Forres 1
Oct 9 - Buckie 3 Inverurie 0
Oct 13 - Buckie 9 Fort William 1
Oct 16 - Huntly 0 Buckie 2
Nov 6 - Strathspey 0 Buckie 6
Nov 20 - Buckie 4 Clach 1
Nov 24 - Buckie 4 Nairn 1
Nov 27 - Lossiemouth 0 Buckie 5
Dec 11 - Buckie 2 Turriff 0
Jan 15 - Buckie 4 Formartine 0
Jan 22 - Fort William 1 Buckie 4 (at Buckie)
Feb 5 - Nairn 1 Buckie 4
Feb 9 - Fraserburgh 1 Buckie 3
Feb 12 - Buckie 1 Brechin 0
Feb 26 - Inverurie 1 Buckie 5
Mar 5 - Buckie 3 Huntly 0
Jags completed a league and cup double over Inverurie Locos in midweek after Scott Adams’ first half strike secured a 1-0 win.
Then on Saturday, captain Kevin Fraser’s first goal since November opened Buckie’s account against Huntly, before Sam Urquhart knocked in his 23rd of the season to give the home side a two-goal cushion at the interval.
Stopper Sam Morrison put the seal on another Jags win on the hour mark.
“We dominate, it could have been a few more to be honest but I’m delighted with a 3-0 win and a clean sheet,” Stewart added.
“Huntly are one of those teams who can beat anyone on their day but perhaps don’t yet have the consistency, but that will come when the manager gets more time to come up wit their style. They are a dangerous team and they showed it in spells. I’m not sure if they had a shot on target but defensively we were brilliant.
“It’s been a tough run for us, with Fraserburgh away, Brechin at home, the two Locos games and Huntly, that is as hard as it gets so to win them all, we are absolutely delighted.”
The Buckie boss is pleased with midfielder Urquhart’s impressive tally but wasn’t keen to highlight any particular player for praise.
“Sam is a left midfielder and he has been outstanding. He has missed a few games because we have rested him on occasions and he always says to me he might have 30 goals by now if I played him all the time.
“But he has been very good and it is one of those seasons where you can pick out seven or eight players who have been really, really good and played most of the games. That is a good sign for me because it means I don’t have to chop and change and everyone knows their jobs.”
Next up for Jags is Wednesday’s trip to Keith, who they beat 10-0 at Victoria Park at the start of the campaign.
Stewart warned: “Apart from that 10-0, Keith have notoriously been a difficult team for us. They beat us the year we won the league and that almost derailed us.
“Being a derby, a lot of the players know each other. It is a free hit for them and they will want to try and disrupt us, which we would do if the positions were swapped.”
