Buckie Thistle 3 Turriff United 2

Buckie Thistle saw off the challenge of a resilient Turriff United side thanks to substitute Andy Gardiner's brilliant 25-yard strike 10-minutes from time.

Jags had opened the scoring through Zander Sutherland before Jerry O'Driscoll equalised only for Craig Macmillan to restore the Jags lead. Donald Fraser hit Turriff's second before local lad Gardiner notched the winner with his first goal of the season.

Buckie manager Gregg Carroll saw the game as a perfect stepping stone before heading to Nairn next week, hoping to see his side gain their first back-to-back wins since August.

Carrol said: "We're blowing hot and cold and we tend to not be consistent enough but I think today, and I'm sure the supporters would agree, our biggest problem is not taking chances.

"Andy Gardiner's strike was a great goal, he's capable of doing that and we know that. He's just back from offshore but he now has his offshore situation settled with three weeks on and three weeks off, giving him that wee bit more flexibility.

"Andy has came on today, we know how good he is, he's quick and he knows where the goal is but one game doesn't make a season and he needs to continue from here.

"Zander Sutherland was important to winning today's game, he's a great player but a frustrating player also because he does some daft things sometimes but the quality of ball he puts into the box is good."

United player-manager Mark Simpson felt that his side deserved a point when he said: "We started the game quite brightly but we've been caught by a ball in-behind and maybe by a wee bit of indecision and they've scored.

"On the whole we played really well today but it's the same old story, we've come away with no points. It's encouraging to see a performance like that, the effort was good but some of our decision making wasn't as good."

The home side opened scoring in the sixth minute when a huge clearance from goalkeeper Darren Strong found Zander Sutherland and he rounded Stephen Coutts and slotted into an empty net. Jerry O'Driscoll got the equaliser on the half-hour mark when Robbie Allan whipped in a corner, when the ball caught amongst the feet of several players in the box the former Cove forward striker reacted first to touch it over the line from close-range.

Craig MacMillan reinstated the Jags lead 10 minutes after half-time, Sutherland whipped in a cross which Lewis MacKinnon headed back across goal for MacMillan to tap in.

Turriff's levelled again when Sam Muirhead's low drive was spilled by Strong and Donald Fraser pounced to poke the ball into the net.

Four minutes later home substitute Gardiner received the ball from MacMillan 25-yards from goal and he unleashed a terrific drive which hit the underside of the bar and went in for a sensational winner.

Report Benjy Palmer, Press & Journal

Buckie Thistle - Strong, Duncan (Stewart), H Munro, MacRae, MacKinnon, Wood, Napier (Gardiner), D Munro (Charlesworth), MacMillan, Sutherland, Shewan, Unused Subs - Angus & Main