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Press and Journal
4 days ago
- Sport
- Press and Journal
Highland League digest: New faces in at Banks o' Dee, Buckie Thistle and Formartine United
Sam Pugh has had a taste for success and is aiming to get his hands on more trophies with new club Banks o' Dee. The midfielder has joined the Aberdeen outfit on a three-year deal following five years at Buckie Thistle, who he helped to win the Breedon Highland League title in 2024. Pugh was with Inverurie Locos and Keith as a young player before heading to America for a scholarship at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa. The 27-year-old joined the Jags when he returned to the north-east in 2020, but with his contract at Victoria Park expiring this summer, Pugh has decided to take on a new challenge with Dee. He said: 'With my contract coming to an end I just felt it was the right time to move on. 'I was fortunate to have some good options to choose from, but the reason I chose Banks o' Dee is because in their time in the Highland League they've always been successful in terms of winning cups. 'They want to try to keep pushing on and being successful and I wanted to be part of that so hopefully we can have success. 'Winning the league at Buckie gave me a taste for winning things and wanting to win more and I feel Banks o' Dee is the place where I can do that. 'It's funny when we won the league last year with Buckie when we were celebrating on the Saturday night someone said to me 'plenty of people win it once, but not many win it twice.' 'Having had the feeling of winning the league I'd like to try to do it again. 'It was quite flattering the interest that clubs showed in me and there are pros and cons to every option. 'It was difficult to say no to clubs, but I'm hoping I've made the right choice with Banks o' Dee.' As well as winning the Highland League with Buckie, Pugh captained Thistle when they played Celtic at Parkhead in the Scottish Cup in January 2024. Looking back on his time with the Jags, he added: 'I've got great memories of my time at Buckie, I absolutely loved it at Buckie. 'When I came back from my scholarship I don't think a lot of people really knew me and Graeme Stewart took a chance on me at a time when I didn't have many options. 'The only regret I have from my time at Buckie was that we didn't win more because we put ourselves in the position to win things often enough. 'We were second in the league twice and lost four cup finals, but then when we did actually win the league that was really special. 'I'll never forget leading the team out at Parkhead as well, although it was very unlucky for Kevin Fraser. Kevin is the captain, but he was out injured so I got to lead the boys out. 'With Kevin being a Celtic fan I'd have loved for him to get the chance to do it, but to be captain on that day was special for me. 'The people at the club are amazing. My family come to all the games and the people at Buckie were always so welcoming to my family.' Buckie Thistle boss Lewis MacKinnon says new recruit Ross Paterson arrives at Victoria Park with a hunger to succeed. The Jags have signed the midfielder on a two-year deal from Lossiemouth, with his Coasters' contract expiring this summer. Paterson, 28, is the second player Buckie have signed from Lossie this summer, following the capture of Ross Morrison earlier this month. Thistle manager MacKinnon said: 'I became aware that Ross was available and when we played Lossiemouth in the last couple of seasons the games have been tough and particularly in the central midfield area, which Ross has been part of. 'He's fit, he's keen, he's a local Moray-based player and he's a free agent so he ticks a lot of boxes. We're delighted to get Ross on board. 'I think Ross Paterson, like Ross Morrison, is coming with a hunger to do well. 'He's joining a club bit further up the table and he's keen to push on. 'The attitude Ross has shown in the chats I've had with him has been really good and I think he'll flourish with ourselves.' For a number of years Buckie have drawn players from Aberdeen and Inverness as well as Moray. But MacKinnon says this summer he's largely been looking at players relatively local to Buckie and he hopes the Jags' supporters will back the new faces. He added: 'The way things are at the moment I've had guys from Aberdeen and Inverness who aren't so keen to travel. 'So you have to look elsewhere and when opportunities arise to sign good local players like Ross Paterson and Ross Morrison then you can't pass that up. 'I think if you do well for Buckie the supporters don't care where you're from. 'However, there's no question they like seeing local lads from Buckie, or from Moray, in the team doing well.' Manager Stuart Anderson believes Finlay Murray has a bright future with Formartine United. The 20-year-old defender joins the Pitmedden club after leaving League One outfit Cove Rangers. Murray was previously with Aberdeen and had a loan spell in the Breedon Highland League with Turriff United during the 2023-24 season. However, he left Pittodrie last year and signed for Cove, but made only seven appearances for the Balmoral Stadium side, and has now joined Formartine. Boss Anderson is looking forward to working with him and said: 'Finlay's a good young prospect, he's got bags of potential to develop into a really good centre-half. 'He's had a good background, coming from Aberdeen and Cove, and having that involvement in full-time football. 'He's one we feel can really develop with ourselves and we're looking forward to him getting started. 'The spell Finlay had at Turriff was his first spell playing men's football and he did really well at this level. 'We're a year on from that now and physically he's developed since then. 'I think Finlay will be a good fit for us and he'll give us another good option in the squad. 'Finlay probably had a frustrating season, he needs to get games under his belt, but he'll get plenty of opportunities with us. 'We've developed some good young players in recent seasons and hopefully he can be another one.' This week Formartine have also secured defenders Rhys Thomas and Luke Strachan and striker Brody Alberts on contract extensions. Anderson added: 'The three of them are good players and it was important for the club that we got them tied down. 'We're delighted that they see their future at Formartine, they've all got scope to develop further and hopefully they continue to get better and better.'
Press and Journal
07-05-2025
- Sport
- Press and Journal
Highland League digest: Fraserburgh management sign extensions while Clachnacuddin tie up key man
Manager Mark Cowie says he is hungry to deliver more success for Fraserburgh after he and assistant manager James Duthie signed contract extensions. The duo, who are the longest-serving management team in the Breedon Highland League, have put pen to paper on deals until the summer of 2029. Since their appointment in April 2015 Cowie and Duthie have led the Broch to the Breedon Highland League title, four Evening Express Aberdeenshire Cups and four Morrison Motors (Turriff) Aberdeenshire Shields. Cowie hopes there are more good days ahead, and said: 'We're on the cusp of a transition or a rebuild of our squad in the years to come and it would maybe have been easy for James and I to walk away. 'But we've still got the fire in our belly to oversee that and to continue doing the job and trying to make the club as successful as we can. 'We're delighted we'll be at Fraserburgh for years to come.' Preparing for the future Looking ahead, Cowie is preparing for a time when some of Fraserburgh's stalwarts decide to hang up their boots. But he is confident the Bellslea outfit can continue to challenge for silverware as new faces come into the fold. He added: 'We need to make sure we're pushing on the next generation of players and we've already started doing that. 'We've got guys like Willie West, Bryan Hay, Jamie Beagrie, Paul Young and Scott Barbour who I love to bits and who have been a massive part of the success the club has had. 'There will come a day when they're no longer playing, but they're as hungry as ever. Mark Cowie has won nine trophies as Fraserburgh manager. 'When you're getting towards the end of your time, it makes you more determined to be successful – and they're putting in more than ever before to try to be successful. 'I don't think they're at the end yet. They've still got a few more good years ahead of them. 'We want the club to continue being successful, so to do that we need to set the standards and the players need follow them. 'It's our job to make sure that new players that come to the club and youngsters that come through achieve what they're capable of. 'The club has been really good to me. I was a nobody 10 years ago who threw my hat into the ring for the job. 'The club gave me the job and a lot of trust has been placed in me during the last 10 years and there's more trust being placed in me with this contract extension. 'I want to give back to the club, I'll be doing my best for the club and hopefully it can be a good period for us.' Banks o' Dee trio sign on Meanwhile, Banks o' Dee have announced Lachie MacLeod, Mark Gilmour and Magnus Watson have signed contract extensions. The trio have enjoyed plenty of success in both the Junior and Highland League ranks during their time at Spain Park. As part of their new deals striker MacLeod and midfielder Gilmour are set to receive testimonials as they close in on a decade of service in the first-team. Midfielder Watson has broken through in recent years and returned to action towards the end of the season after a long spell on the sidelines. Key business for Clachnacuddin Conor Gethins reckons securing James Anderson on a new contract is a massively important piece of business for Clachnacuddin. The striker, who netted 23 goals in the 2024-25 season, only had a year left on his deal, but has penned an extension to stay with the Lilywhites beyond the summer of 2026. After finishing sixth in the Breedon Highland League, manager Gethins reckons it's crucial the likes of Anderson remain at Grant Street if Clach are to progress again next term. Gethins said: 'I think it's a massively important piece of business to keep a goalscorer like James. James Anderson has committed his future to Clach. 'There's been quite a significant bit of interest in James over the last year. 'He finished the season really strongly and when I spoke to him about the season, being honest he didn't really kick into gear until November. 'We challenged him to get fitter and give us more. He really kicked on and finished the season really well. 'I think it's important that Clach aren't going to be a feeder club for other teams. 'Yes Connor Bunce moved on this season, but we got a former Highland League player of the year in Andrew Macrae joining us as part of the deal. 'We want to push on as high as we can as a club so it's important we retain players like James.' Natural goalscorer knack Anderson has notched more than 50 goals for Clach, but Gethins believes the best is yet to come from the 23-year-old and has challenged him to continue delivering for the Inverness outfit in the years ahead. He added: 'I think we're stronger now than we were a year ago and I don't see why James can't score 20 goals plus every season. 'James is a natural goalscorer and that's something you can't really coach. 'Yes you can coach movement and positioning, but you can't coach that knack of being a natural goalscorer and James has that knack. 'I want James to have the mentality of expecting to score in every game he plays and hopefully I can help him with that.'
