Flying start, Scottish Cup live on BBC and major Highland League progress - the story of Buckie Thistle's shortened season
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BUCKIE Thistle were firmly in the hunt for honours when the Highland League season was cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Jags were awaiting a League Cup semi-final when the plug was pulled on a campaign which saw them top the table in mid-October and feature in a live televised Scottish Cup tie.
Graeme Stewart’s side produced a sensational start to the campaign and led the league by four points at one point.
While their title challenge had frittered away when play stopped in March, Buckie had already overhauled their points tally for each of the previous two seasons - with ten less games played.
Who knows what could have been if star striker John McLeod had been fit, with the striker finally on the road to recovery following two years of injury hell and major hip surgery.
McLeod is set for a return in 2020-21, and with manager Stewart assembling a talented young squad with real league-winning potential, there is much to be excited about at Victoria Park.
Injuries had dogged Jags since their last title triumph in 2016-17, but the return of key players like captain Kevin Fraser, Sam Urquhart and Hamish Munro from long spells out gave the club good reason for optimism last summer.
Striker Scott Graham came in from Brora, with young defender Jack Murray beginning a second loan spell from Ross County in September.
By then Buckie were riding high, having won their opening three league games including an incredible 8-2 thumping of local rivals Keith on their own patch.
Fraserburgh proved to be a real nemesis, inflicting Jags’ only league defeat in their opening 12 league matches as well as knocking the Buckie braves out of the Aberdeenshire Cup on penalties in a tense semi-final.
More Highland League season reviews:
- Sticky start left Huntly always playing catch-up
- Curtailed season gives Deveronvale scope for optimism
- Big wins and more Cammy records dominated Keith's season
- Rothes on the way up in Highland League football
- Lossie brought down Fort in fight to avoid wooden spoon
- Up-and-down Forres campaign ends in middle
Jags won 11 of those first 12 league matches, with the goals being spread right through the team.
Scott Adams and Sam Robertson were regulars on the scoresheet and with Buckie four points clear after a run of eight consecutive league victories, whispers emerged of an unexpected title challenge.
Excitement grew when the Scottish Cup second round draw paired the Highland League leaders with the Lowland League leaders, as Buckie drew Bonnyrigg Rose in a tie picked by BBC Scotland as their live TV match.
Alas, Jags couldn’t rise to the occasion, losing 2-0 on a Friday night in Midlothian despite the backing of hundreds who travelled from Buckie and the surrounding area.
A turning point was reached in Thistle’s season, as form took a dip and results suffered in due course.
A visit to second-bottom Huntly in their next league outing should have caused little consternation for the leaders, but astonishingly Jags found themselves 4-0 down after just 18 minutes at Christie Park. A rousing comeback rescued three goals but Buckie couldn’t pull level and went down to a surprise loss.
Confidence had taken a dent, and with Brora taking over top spot just days before Buckie’s trip north to face the Sutherland side in a top-of-the-table clash, Stewart’s men were up against it.
What followed was Jags’ lowest point of the season, a 7-0 thrashing at Dudgeon Park which proved to be the catalyst for the Cattachs’ title surge.
Buckie’s sticky spell continued, despite a last minute Joe McCabe goal earning a League Cup derby success over Deveronvale.
Stewart plundered rivals Brora to bring in striker Kyle MacLeod on a three-year deal.
Another penalty shoot-out triggered an Aberdeenshire Shield exit against Formartine, while bogey side Fraserburgh inflicted a third consecutive league defeat on a stunned Jags.
A spell of bad weather, combined with Victoria Park pitch problems, saw Jags fall behind in games and slip to fifth place, some 12 points behind a resurgent Brora.
But good teams don’t become bad overnight, and Buckie were to embark on another run of fine form to push them back into the reckoning.
They were to lose just one of their next ten league and cup outings, winning seven including one crucial measure of revenge in February.
Fraserburgh made the trip to the Viccy on a Wednesday night in the League Cup quarter-finals, having already beaten the home side three times this season.
Like the Shire Cup meeting at the start of the campaign, this one was to go to penalties.
Jags had ended up on the losing side in two shutouts already this term, but it was third time lucky as they emerged victorious to claim their place in the last four.
Former Ross County teenager and local lad Marcus Goodall scored twice in a 4-1 win over Turriff.
Jags also got their own back on Huntly, twice coming from behind in a tempestuous match which saw their opponents have two players and two coaches sent off in a 4-2 Buckie win.
That proved to be Buckie’s last outing of the season before a halt was called to proceedings because of the restrictions placed upon a country gripped by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Jags still had eight league games to play, as well as a League Cup semi which will now be rescheduled for the start of next term - whenever that may be.
A 70-plus points tally and top three finish was well within Jags’ reach when the season ended, and huge improvements had been made to the previous two campaigns.
