Buckie Thistle 1 (MacKinnon 1) Aberdeen XI 2 (Wright 11,44) – Darren Strong Testimonial – Victoria Park, Buckie

Two terrific Scott Wright goals saw a youthful Aberdeen side win a hard-fought victory in tonight's testimonial game for former Buckie Thistle keeper Darren Strong. A crowd of around 400 came along to pay tribute to the man who is now the goalkeeping coach for the current Highland League leaders.

The home side took a shock lead after only 60 seconds when Lewis MacKinnon hit a fine volley past Craddock following a right wing corner. The Dons drew level ten minutes later with a superb Scott Wright goal, his left foot rocket from 25 yards giving Strong no chance. The winner came a minute before the break as Wright broke free from the halfway line to race through to slip the ball home after rounding the keeper.

No more goals in the second half as both sides made a raft of changes but a night to remember for Darren Strong.

Aberdeen – Craddock, MacPherson (Robertson 63), Wells (McKenzie 76), S Ross (Campbell 63), Barbir, Roscoe (Anderson 76), Wright, Antoniazzi (E Ross 76), McLennan (Dangana 63), F Ross (Hutchison 36), Norris. Unused sub – Mutch (GK).

After the match, Paul Sheerin spoke to www.afc.co.uk:

“I thought it was a competitive enough game. First half it was competitive. There were a lot of changes in the second half and that maybe had an effect on the game later on, the second half was not as good a spectacle.

“Scott Wright’s first goal with his left foot was a great strike. I was not sure he could kick it that hard with his left foot! He hits it very well. The second goal came from his huge positivity. Just with a half turn he gets at people. His directness caused them problems.

“I was pleased that we managed to see the game out and I thought we were comfortable. Our shape defensively was a lot better than it has been so that was also a positive to take from tonight.

“Also, I thought the response to losing a goal so early on in the first half was good. I thought we were caught cold which was frustrating but after that we dominated possession. We just needed to be a bit cuter in their final third. They were playing a high line and if we took more care with our final pass we would have got in more often.

“It was good to give the young boys a run out – Jevan Anderson, Ethan Ross, Dean Campbell and young Jack McKenzie.

“All in all, pleasing enough.”