Young forward Lyall Keir netted a stunning five-goal haul as Buckie Thistle fired eight past Strathspey at Victoria Park.

Marcus Goodall, Sam Pugh and Craig Cormack were also on target as the home side weathered an early second half comeback from the visitors to score four times in the final quarter of an hour.

After an open start to the match, Buckie took the lead on 18 minutes. Josh Peters did well to get on the end of a long pass from Cohen Ramsay and play in Goodall, his shot from 16 yards deflecting over the stranded Kit Fletcher and into the net.

Great work from Andrew MacAskill then set up Goodall and his low cross was fired just over the bar by Peters from close range.

The Jags made it two on 21 minutes, MacAskill driving forward and feeding Pugh on the edge of the penalty area, the skipper rifling a superb left-foot drive high past Fletcher from 20 yards.

MacAskill was causing huge problems for the visitors, his cross just evading the inrushing Goodall at the far post, then the Jags mercurial number 10 showed great skill to set up a glorious chance for Peters, but he inexplicably shot wide of the right post from 14 yards with only the goalkeeper to beat.

On 34 minutes, another MacAskill through ball was blocked on the stretch by James McShane, only for Keir to pounce on the loose ball, turn nicely and slot home goal number three.

Five minutes later, Peters headed over from an excellent Goodall cross from the right, before combining well with MacAskill to set up Keir to slot the ball past Fletcher into the bottom right corner.

Skipper Pugh almost got on the end of a good ball in from Peters just before the break, but it remained four-nil to the home side at half time.

Keir blasted a decent chance high over the crossbar in the opening minute of the second period, then some sloppy defensive work from the
Jags saw Aaron Nicolson send a bobbling effort past Mark Ridgers and into the far corner to reduce the deficit.

Barely a minute later, Ridgers sent Josh Race sprawling from a loose ball in the six-yard area, and Nicolson stepped up to send the Jags number one the wrong way from the spot to make it 4-2.

Darryl McHardy crashed a shot just past the right-hand post from long range on 53 minutes with Fletcher rooted to the spot, then MacAskill sent Peters racing through, only for Fletcher to produce a superb save to parry the ball out for a corner.

Another excellent team move ended with Goodall stinging the palms of Fletcher with a searing drive from 20 yards.

Scot Docherty blasted an effort wide of the right post from the edge of the penalty area at the other end, then Keir worked his way in from the left flank and his shot was deflected wide for a corner.

Keir wasn’t to be denied the hat-trick though, and 14 minutes from time he latched onto a superb long diagonal ball from Ryan Fyffe and slotted home under the advancing Fletcher.

Seven minutes later substitutes Kevin Fraser and Craig Cormack combined for goal number six, Fraser playing Cormack clean through and the big number eight coolly slotted past Fletcher from 12 yards for his first Jags goal.

Within a minute it was seven, Fraser again the architect with a superb through ball for Keir to race clear and steer home his fourth of the night, then at the other end Ridgers made a good stop to deny substitute Kieran Duffty from close range.

Jack MacIver pounced on a loose ball and worked his way into the penalty area, but his shot spun off a defender and went just past the right-hand post.

Keir headed just over the crossbar from an excellent McCabe cross on 89 minutes, before completing the scoring by firing home his fifth of the match and Buckie’s eighth in injury time.

A tremendous night’s work for young Keir, he’s now scored an impressive eight goals in his last three matches.

Buckie looked comfortable when four ahead at the break, but two quick goals from Strathspey kept them in it until a strong Jags finish put the game to bed. League leaders Brechin City up next on Saturday!

Buckie Th: M. Ridgers, J. McCabe, R. Fyffe, D. McHardy (S. Morrison 60), C. Ramsay; M. Goodall (J. MacIver 75), S. Pugh (c) (D. Wood 60), F. Robertson, L. Keir; J. Peters (C. Cormack 60), A. MacAskill (K. Fraser 60).

Scorers: M. Goodall (18), S. Pugh (21), L. Keir (34, 42, 77, 85, 90+1), C. Cormack (84)