Postal ALC 2 - Echt 3 - North of Scotland Cup - Webster Park - 15/11/2025 1:30pm

Postal faced off against Echt in this North of Scotland cup tie, again drawn at Webster Park.  Echt have been a mainstay of the Aberdeenshire Association Premier Division having claimed numerous honours since their formation.  Postal had won 8 on the bounce coming into the game and the management team were confident the team would push Echt some 2 divisions above them all the way in this encounter. 

Harry McAuley, Kieron Dowbekin and Steven Abel both unavailable for the encounter due to sitting a driving test, suspension and injury meant Luca Giulianotti, Doug Russell and Duncan MacKenzie took their place in the starting 11.

Postal lined up as below:

1. Grant Cormack

2. Bruce Webster 

3. Vinnie Buggie (S) (Y)

4. Euan Brechin

5. James Steele

6. Luca Giulianotti

7. Doug Russell

8. Alex Clark 

9. Duncan MacKenzie (S)

10. Phil Wallace 

11. Sultan Ahmed

Bench: 

12. Andreas Jones

13. Fraser Smith

14. Adam Veitch

15. Andrew Riddell (S)

16. Mark Robb (S)

17. Robbie Simmons

Postal ALC fell to a late sucker punch in a frustrating 3–2 defeat to Echt, despite a spirited fightback and a much-improved second-half performance at Webster Park.

First Half

Postal kicked off but found themselves behind early. In the 5th minute, Brechin attempted to play out from the back, but a loose pass was pounced upon in midfield. Echt quickly shifted the ball wide to their number 11, who cut inside and rifled a powerful strike into the near post to make it 0–1.  Poor quality on the ball however the Postal defensive shape also all at sea. 

Two minutes later the visitors doubled their lead. A long throw into the Postal box wasn’t challenged, and when the second ball dropped to the back post, the ball was hooked back across goal. Postal again failed to attack the delivery, allowing Echt’s number 8 to acrobatically send an overhead kick into the top corner.  Great effort but school boy defending from Postal who looked like they wanted to be anywhere but on the Webster Park field of dreams.

Credit to the team however, it would have been easy to fold however after the shaky opening, Postal settled. On 20 minutes Phil drove forward with purpose, sliding a pass through to Sully, whose left-footed effort was saved well.

Echt continued to threaten, and after a foul on their number 11 in the 22nd minute, a dangerous free-kick forced Luca into clearing under pressure.

Postal created another half-chance on 32 minutes, when Alex found space on the right after scrappy build-up play, but his shot flew high and wide.

Despite the early setbacks, Postal grew stronger and grabbed a deserved goal back in the 37th minute. Doug clipped a ball up the right to Dunc, who whipped in a cross. Phil intelligently cushioned it into Sully’s path, and the striker slammed it home to make it 1–2.

Just before the break, Vinnie picked up a booking for halting Echt’s lively number 11.

Half-Time: Postal ALC 1–2 Echt

Riddell replaced Buggie at the restart, but Echt threatened first. In the 46th minute their number 2 struck over the bar, and a minute later Steele misjudged a header, allowing the number 9 to flick the ball through to 7, whose shot forced Grant into a save.

Second Half Fightback

Postal found their rhythm and equalised in the 53rd minute. Doug drove confidently out from the back and fed Duncan out wide. His delivery picked out Sully perfectly, and the forward powered a header into the net from around 10 yards, bringing the game level at 2–2.

Momentum swung firmly in Postal’s favour. On the hour mark Webster strode forward into the Echt half and played the ball out to Duncan, who produced a superb outside-of-the-foot cross. It dropped to Sully  who shot at point-blank range but the Echt keeper somehow produced a stunning save to keep the scores level.

Three minutes later Alex Clark surged through midfield, threading Dunc through on goal. His effort was saved once more, and Clark latched onto the rebound, shooting just wide in another near-miss for Postal.

Echt reminded Postal of their threat on 70 minutes when their number 11 broke down the flank and crossed, but number 7 couldn’t quite stretch enough to convert.

Dunc made way for Marko in the 75th minute, as Postal continued to push for a winner.

Grant then produced a brilliant save from an Echt free-kick on 85 minutes, keeping the match finely balanced heading into stoppage time.

Late Heartbreak

But the visitors struck at the death. In the 91st minute an Echt corner was delivered deep, and their number 6 rose highest to head home the decisive goal, making it 2–3.  Poor defending from Postal who have conceded from a number of corners this season. 

Postal came agonisingly close to levelling the scores seconds later when Doug unleashed a long-range drive in the 94th minute, but the Echt keeper again pulled off an excellent save and the ball went out for a corner.  Everyone including Cormack up for the corner, Echt cleared and the final whistle blew.

Full-Time: Postal ALC 2–3 Echt

Ultimately you cant expect to give a Premier League side a two goal head start combined with missing chances and expect to advance.  That said the team showed tremendous character to battle back to level terms and create multiple chances to win the match. Despite the defeat, there were stretches of excellent football and plenty to build on ahead of the next fixture.  The winning streak may have ended however the trajectory of the team and club continue. 

MOM – N/A

Booked – Vinnie Buggie

Red Card – N/A