Moray welfare football champions Buckie Rovers finish league season with victory at Hopeman while Aberlour Villa and RAF Lossiemouth hit six
The newly-crowned Moray welfare champions finished their league campaign on a high, preparing for two cup finals in their treble quest.
Former north junior side Buckie Rovers’ first year back in football in the welfare ranks has been a roaring success, following last week’s Premier Division title triumph.
Rovers ended their league season with a 3-0 victory at Hopeman, and now know the dates of their two remaining showpiece matches.
The coast club take on league runners-up Aberlour Villa in the final of the Mike Simpson Memorial Trophy at Lossiemouth’s Grant Park on Friday, September 6.
Two weeks later (September 20) they head to Elgin City’s Borough Briggs ground to face Cullen in a battle of the two divisional winners meeting in the WJ Tewnion Memorial Shield.
Having the winds at their backs at Hopeman helped Buckie build up a 3-0 half time lead last Friday.
Home keeper Lee Spencer denied Ross Fiske before captain Declan Clark fired home Rovers’ opener on 15 minutes.
Ex-Hopeman keeper Glen Fraser had to make a fine save from Liam Petrie at the other end, but within a minute William Morrison struck on the turn at the other end to make it 2-0.
Clark turned provider with a through ball for Jordi Mackie to make it 3-0 on 26 minutes.
Fraser denied Hopeman youngster Finn Tulloch a first goal for the club with another fine save.
In the second half Rovers’ top scorer Ross Fiske blazed over an empty goal and Morrison missed a good chance to make it 4-0.
Fraser pulled off a couple of good saves to deny his old club and preserve another clean sheet for the champions.
Hopeman have forfeited their final league fixture, handing Aberlour a 3-0 win.
Aberlour’s last league pouting was therefore Friday’s 6-2 success at Thunderton.
They got an early shock when Russell Geddes fired home a nice half volley for the Elgin outfit to open the scoring.
Normal service resumed for the Speysiders, scoring three in each half with Gary Morrison (2), Harry Doble (2), Struan Kelly and Liam Munro on target before Warren Orford grabbed a late consolation for Thunderton.
RAF Lossiemouth finished with a win by the same scoreline at last season’s champions FC Fochabers.
Five players opened their scoring account for the season for the airmen to make up their tally as Connor Hutton (2), Dylan Sadler, Rhys Blackwood, Jamie Karnsang and Jack Goodwin found the net for the away side, and Kieran Burchell (pen) and John Gerrard made up the Fochabers score.
Division one winners Cullen finished with 13 wins from their last 15 games, the latest a 4-1 success at home to Ugie.
The Keith side went into the game unbeaten in five, with four wins but were soon behind when Taylor Smith tapped in for Cullen from a Grant Bryceland flick on at a corner.
Smith then smashed an effort off the post and a string of fine saves from Ugie keeper Elliot Gordon kept the score down.
In the second half, top scorer Logan Macaulay Mill made it 2-0 before Alex Clark pulled one back from a Ugie penalty.
Cullen quickly restored their cushion, with an Iain Mair header making it 3-1 and Jae Marandola wrapped the game up for the home side with the fourth.
Craigellachie finished with five wins out of six games in a high-scoring encounter at Lhanbryde United.
United netted first when a long ball from John Harrold found Craig Sim who spun his marker and smashed it into the net.
Michael Mortimer headed home a free kick to level and almost immediately, Adam Hepburn rifled a 30-yarder into the top corner for his first Craigellachie goal to put them ahead at the break.
The second half rained goals with a Lewis Bower double putting the visitors 4-1 ahead, then Duncan Paterson robbed a defender and shot home to pull one back for Lhanbryde.
A Stuart Thomson effort and a brilliant Brad Mills free kick put the away team out of sight and Jack McConnachie added a seventh, with united having the last say when Paterson set up Sim to score his tenth of the season for a consolation.
Brogan Jamieson netted a hat-trick for bottom side Seaforth who still ended up on the losing side at Rothes A.
Strikes by Ewan Hills, Scott Anderson, Keith Cruickshank, Conaire Bowie and Lewis Macdonald earned the Speyside hosts a 5-3 win to finish on a high.
Top goalscorers (all competitions):
21 - Marcus Murray (Aberlour)
18 - Aaron O’Hara (Craigellachie)
17 - Gary Morrison (Aberlour)
15 - Ross Fiske (Buckie)
14 - Logan Macaulay Mill (Cullen)
13 - Jordan Gray (Craigellachie), Jae Marandola (Cullen), Ben Carby (RAF Lossie)
12 - Barry Grant (Aberlour)
11 - Jordi Mackie (Buckie)
10 - William Morrison (Buckie), Taylor Smith (Cullen), Andrew Walker (Fochabers), Stewart McLaren (Hopeman), Craig Sim (Lhanbryde), Ryan Woods (RAF Lossie), Cammy Thomson (Ugie)
9 - Korey Pring (Aberlour), Jack McConnachie (Craigellachie), Jordan Clark, Lee Alexander (both Fochabers), Leyton Boyd (Portsoy), Matthew McConachie (Rothes A), Mikey Simpson (Ugie)
8 - Iain Lunan (Hopeman), Raymond Anderson, Warren Orford (both Thunderton)
