Buckie Thistle full back Joe McCabe describes thrill of scoring twice in Highland League win at Wick Academy and is threatening to push for Victoria Park top scorer tag
Two more Buckie Thistle goals has Joe McCabe breathing down the necks of Jags’ attacking players in the scoring charts.
The right back has been a regular marksman from defence for the Victoria Park club since signing from Inverurie Locos in 2019.
Just back from injury, McCabe netted twice in Jags’ 3-0 victory at Wick Academy on Saturday - though he later admitted one of them was a fluke.
He is giving the licence to get forward and help the attackers when possible, and was in contention for a hat-trick when team-mate Lyall Keir elected to set up Liam Harvey for Buckie’s third goal in stoppage time at Harmsworth Park.
Speaking about his impressive goals return for the club, McCabe said: “I’ve scored eight goals in each of the last two seasons and I’m already at eight this season so it would be nice to get into double figures.
“It’s been a good return for a right back and it was nice to get two at Wick after being out for a while.”
The stopper, who turns 28 next week, had been out for a knee injury for a month as well as serving a two-game suspension for a red card received in a match at Keith.
He is glad to be back in action with his first full 90 minutes in some time, and pushing the top scorers with his double.
Marcus Goodall leads the goal charts for Jags with ten, just ahead of Lyall Keir on nine.
“I’ve been winding the boys up saying that I'm catching them. Marcus and Lyall are ahead of me so it would be nice to overtake them or at least give them a scare for a while.
“I’m second on the list for penalties behind Jack MacIver so he might do me a favour and let me take one or two.”
And the secret of his goals success? “It’s always been the case that I got more of a free rein to go up the park.
“A lot of my goals have been from corners and on Saturday it was the first one I’ve scored with my feet, seven with my head and maybe two or three from open play.
“But I do have more attacking threat going forward, scoring goals and racking up the assists as well. It is probably the same amount as my goals.
“I scored just before half time and again just after and it just took the pressure off massively. We were playing down the hill in the first half so going in ahead was nice, and when you go uphill you know it’s going to be a bit of a battle but to score the second one was nice and made it a bit more comfortable.”
That one goal he has scored from foot rather than head was Buckie’s second just after the break, and owing much to good fortune according to the scorer.
“I was about 30, maybe 40 yards out. I’ve whipped a cross in and it’s just caught the keeper off his line.
“I can’t claim that I meant to do it, but I’ll take it. The keeper came off his line but I just looked to put it in a good area. The pitch probably helped a little bit with the bobbles.”
And McCabe wasn’t happy just to settle for two goals as he played a part in Harvey’s decisive third, one he wanted himself for the hat-trick.
“I’ve pressed quite high up and kind of won the ball back off the centre half, and Lyall went through with it.
“I was absolutely screaming at him to cut it back to me, but he’s squared it to Liam which was fine as we scored. I can still say I played a part in that goal as well.”
The win took Buckie back up to sixth spot in the Highland league after completing 2024 with back-to-back successes.
Defending the title they won back in April has proved to be a hard slog for Jags, who lost key players in the summer and struggled to replace them in an increasingly difficult market for new boss Lewis MacKinnon.
“Everyone knows it’s been tough,” McCabe added. “There’s been loads of change and a lot of things going on at the club behind the scenes.
“Lewis has come in and it’s been a baptism of fire for him with all of those changes.
“But performances have been a lot better in the last few weeks. I’ve come in for the last two games and we’ve managed to win them. Lyall (Keir) was out for a while as well, everyone is coming back fit now.
“Marcus Goodall was back on the bench as well so we’ve got the squad strength back which gives you more options, so we will see how we get on into next year.
“The League Cup is probably our main focus now and we want to do as well as we can.
“We are not too far off it and I can say that for the whole season, as there’s only been one or two games where we’ve been off the pace. It’s just about the performances, grinding out points where we can, picking that up and continuing on.”
