Fraserburgh 4 Keith 0: Maroons swept away by new Aberdeenshire Shield champions Fraserburgh in one-sided Bellslea Park clash

Keith had no answer to the pace and power of newly District Shield Winners Fraserburgh, with the reigning league champions sweeping them aside at Bellslea Park.

The Maroons were chasing the game after going behind inside two minutes of kick off, and could make inroads against their opponents.

Keith fielded latest signing Gavin Elphinstone from Huntly in midfield, and despite the reverse, he showed enough to prove that he will be a handy addition to the team.

Craig Ewen’s boys were trailing right away, when Craig Reid palmed down a corner, and with his rearguard failing to clear their lines, Sean Butcher pounced to rifle home from 16 yards.

Broch had the ball in the net again with 13 minutes gone, but Butcher’s header was ruled out for offside.

Two minutes later though Scott Barbour had the simple task of sweeping home a left wing cross at the back post.

Although the Maroons showed more purpose after the break they fell further behind eight minutes in when Reid came rushing out of his charge and Ryan Sargent reacted quickly to loft the ball into the roof of the unguarded net from the edge of the box.

Reid atoned for his errors by pulling off a great save on the hour mark, stretching to tip Barbour’s overhead kick onto the bar.

Broch remained well in control however, and with 11 minutes remaining ex-Maroon Josh Bolton pounced to slam home from close range to wrap up what was a comfortable win for the homesters.

Keith team: Reid, Coull, Yeats, Smith (Hutcheon 29), Robertson, Abdulkarim, Elphinstone, Killoh, McKeown (Ironside 63), Tough, Duncan (Cumming 78). Subsnot used: Yunus, Brownie, Irvine.

Ref: J Kennedy.

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