Buckie kept the pressure on Highland League leaders Cove Rangers with a hard-fought win against a Keith side which ended up with only nine players left on the field.

The Maroons had goalkeeper Andy Shearer red-carded in the first half at Kynoch Park and captain Derek Nicol followed early in the second half.

A sizeable crowd watched the drama unfold in the 21st minute when Shearer rushed out to send Ian Murray tumbling on the edge of the box.  Shearer received a red card before the referee pointed to the spot.  However, Keith's top scorer last season, Stuart Walker donned the keeper's jersey and brilliantly saved Craig MacMillan's penalty.

Walker pulled off several fine saves but was helpless 10 minutes from half-time when Robbie Brown hit the foot of the post and, with the home defence struggling to clear, the ball flew back into the danger area for Lewis MacKinnon to nod the Jags ahead.

There was more misery for the home team 12 minutes after the turnaround when Nicol, already booked in the first half received a second yellow card for a foul on David MacRae.

It was not until three minutes from the end, though, that the visitors could relax following Neil Davidson's 18-yard strike which made it 2-0.

Buckie manager Gregg Carrol was delighted with the three points but said: "I was happy with the first half but our second-half performance wasn't good enough.  We should have worked harder and shown our fitness levels but some players didn't do enough.  Keith defended like lions.  They dug deep and we were always a bit nervous at 1-0.  However, that's another three points with 11 games to go."

Keith manager Darren Still said: "I take my hat off to our players who battled well but we were up against it with only nine players.  I made the decision beforehand not to use a substitute goalkeeper and it was a great save by Stuart Walker from the penalty.  I don't know if it actually was a penalty or not, perhaps the decision was taken too quickly.

"Derek Nicol's sending-off was rather soft as it appeared to be two players going for the ball.  He isn't a dirty player.  I sensed a bit of frustation in their camp and had we had 10 players we might have been able to give it a go."

Report from Press & Journal