Buckie's starting line-up saw Angus in for Small (who was away in Aon buisness) and Munro returned for Davidson(offshore).

The match started in a perfect day for football and Cove were first to threaten when Main saved well from a deflected attempt by Johnston. Main had to come rushing off his line to clear with a sliding tackle.

Cove were "first to the ball" in the opening 15 minutes, after then Buckie came more into the match, forcing a number of corner kick's with Charlesworth heading over from five yards (he only had a split-second to react from the driven cross).

The Jags had the ball in the net in 25 minutes but Munro's effort was ruled out for an offside of another player.

Buckie were very unlucky not to open the scoring minutes later, a cross from Napier was hooked back across goal by Shewan and the ball was then cleared to the edge of the box where Macdonald collected, jinked past a player and drove a shot which was goal-bound all the way until McCulloch's excellent goal-line clearance.

Cove responded with a cross and back-post header which hit the side-netting.

Disaster for the Jags as they went behind two minutes from the interval, a long punt up the park was headed by Johnston, who was unchallenged, and ROBBIE HENDERSON nipped in behind Duncan to score from close range.

                               HALF - TIME 0-1

Buckie's starting line-up had one change at the start of the second half, Matheson on for Macrae.

Cove extended their lead in 51 minutes when Webster went down in the box and the referee pointed to the spot, the reaction of Jags keeper Main to this decision and his booking suggested that that he did not think that a spot -kick should have been awarded. KEVIN WEBSTER made no mistake from the spot.

Buckie tried to get back into the match and Munro's volley from the edge of the box skimmed the top of the net two minutes later.

Cove continued to look dangerous on the break and Main brought off two outstanding saves, especially one from a Henderson header.

Martin Charlesworth was then put through on goal and should have scored in 58 minutes, but he delayed slightly in shooting and was then tackled.

The Jags then brought on Bruce for Charlesworth in 63 minutes and Hamilton for Macdonald in 75 minutes.

The game was all but over for the Jags in 81 minutes when Shewan was rightly sent off for a deliberate foul on Webster.

The referee (who overall handled the match well) then created a moment of controversey by not awarding the Jags a free-kick, from what was an obvious pass-back which the keeper picked up with both hands.

The match petered out, and the Cove players celebrated as the final whistle blew.  The sponsors "Man of the Match" deservedly went to Jags defender PAUL LAMBERTON who showed the grit and determination required throughout this match. 

                                   FULL-TIME 0-2

SUMMARY -- The better team on the day won.  Buckie were perhaps unlucky not to open the scoring and it would have been a different match if they had, but  goals either side of half-time effectively killed the game for the Jags.

The  first goal from Buckie's point of view was poor as no-one challenged Johnston in the air (the jags badly missed captain Kevin Small in this match) and the second goal was a dubious penalty, but the "hungrier" side won and Cove were solid without being spectacular, if they play like this in their remaining matches then they will not be far away from their second championship in a row.

This was Buckie's first defeat in almost four months (the previous was on 1st November) and the Jags have been on a fantastic run of 10 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat from their last 12 matches. More importantly it will have given GREGG CARROL and his management team a clearer picture about his team and where it needs to be strengthened for next season.

The Buckie team was: -MAIN, DUNCAN, ANGUS, LAMBERTON, MUNRO, MACRAE, SHEWAN, NAPIER, MACDONALD, CHARLESWORTH and MACMILLAN.  SUBS (used) MATHESON, BRUCE and HAMILTON (unused) NEILL and FRASER.