Buckie Thistle manager Lewis Mackinnon set to bring in new faces after losing a string of experienced Highland League players at end of season
One Highland League club finished their season on a high, and said goodbye to several established names.
Buckie Thistle defeated Keith 3-0 on Saturday to end their campaign unbeaten in 11 games, with a points tally comparable to the final third of last year’s league-winning effort.
Manager Lewis Mackinnon wants to keep the progress coming but must build a squad without several of the men who earned title glory in 2024.
The weekend derby win was Andy MacAskill’s last game before retiring, while Sam Pugh and Joe McCabe will move to Banks o’ Dee and goalkeeper Mark Ridgers is leaving, possibly to join home town Clachnacuddin.
Jack MacIver spent the second half of the season on loan at League 2 Elgin City, who are being tipped to make the switch permanent.
Mackinnon did reveal that he is set to unveil a new signing in the next few days, a midfielder who is coming to the end of his contract at another Highland League side.
“There's four players obviously vacated the club there now,” he said. “There could be one or two others, depending on how things go this summer.
“So there's going to be a big change here at the club. It seems to be a wee revolving door at the moment.
“It certainly keeps me and the coaching staff busy and we’re going to have to get boys in. Work started on that a month ago and it'll probably continue for the next couple of months.
“There'll be no rush. We need to get the right guys in, but I would like them in for pre-season in June.
“We've secured one player that we just need to, once his contract expires, get that one signed. And we're looking at getting another four or five on board.”
Three late goals did the trick for Buckie on Saturday as Innes McKay netted for the second game running to break the deadlock on 84 minutes, before Darryl McHardy and Lyall Keir added two more.
MacAskill was about to be substituted in the final match of his illustrious career when he asked his manager for an extra minute, then provided the assist for McKay’s goal before going off.
Mackinnon also knew it was a last Jags outing for McCabe and Pugh on Saturday.
“I always planned on giving the three guys 60 minutes and then taking them off. It gives some guys a game in the team and obviously the way the game was flowing it was a bit tougher to get the goals than we expected.
“But Joe came off at half-time when he tweaked his quad again, then I took Sam off on the hour mark, but I needed to leave Andy on a little bit longer because obviously his creativity to try and get that goal.
“It was getting to the point where I felt it was time to take him off anyway and he took an iffy touch which rolled under his feet and got out of the park.
“So he knew I had the young Bodhan (Campbell) stripped ready to go and he gave me the ‘one more chance’ finger. So I gave him that and thankfully we did because he's put the ball right on the spot again and Innes has scored a good header and put us 1-0 up. So then I was able to take him off.”
Mackinnon paid tribute to the retiring star and his considerable contributions to Buckie over the past seven-and-a-half years.
“He's a very, very demanding individual. He's a great guy off the field but very demanding to management, to players around him.
“And that's just because he's got a desire to win and do well and it's a good thing. He's demanding on himself. He's the first to criticise his own performance and he's very harsh on himself sometimes, but he's also harsh on his team-mates.
“So to finish with a great ball in, that's just a fitting way to sign off in the Highland League.
“We were trying to get Joe and Sam on new deals prior to the Celtic game last year and it failed.
“They had their eye on leaving, so we were well aware of it but they were fully committed.
“They’ve both played with injuries at times for us and that shows their commitment to the club. Even knowing they're leaving at the end of the season, they’re both good servants and won league titles at the club.”
Former Caley Thistle keeper Ridgers arrived at Victoria park a year ago as a high profile signing but ended up staying just one season.
With Clach’s current keeper Joe Malin retiring, the Inverness club has been linked with a move to sign the experienced shot stopper.
“I don't know if it's public knowledge yet where he's going but there's one club, obviously close to his heart - and it's not Caley - that he would always want to go and play for,” Mackinnon hinted.
“To be honest, Mark took a few months to settle. He didn't come in and really hit the heights he should have been hitting until probably later on in the season.
“It's a bit disappointing the fact that he's adapted to part-time football. His form towards the end of the season was excellent and he's now moving on.
“That's the sad side of it but it gives someone else an opportunity to play for a team like Buckie. Euan Storrier’s had a good solid season playing week in, week out at Strathspey (on loan) where he's probably been quite busy.
“So he'll get an opportunity now at the club to grasp a shirt.”
Mackinnon was delighted to see his team conclude an otherwise disappointing campaign with seven wins and four draws in their undefeated finale.
The 25 points they picked up over those last 11 games was just one less than what the title-winning team did over the same stage of last season.
“That’s a good final third of the season really when you look at it. Hopefully we can carry that momentum through when we go back in June.
“We were not in contention for any silverware, so the guys showed hunger and desire to keep doing well and keep getting points on board. So I credit the lads for that, to keep the momentum going.”
Sam Morrison and Liam Harvey will also return to the Buckie fold from loan spells at other Highland League clubs.