2 days Ago By [email protected] (Craig Christie)
A Keith goalkeeping legend answered his former club’s emergency call to make his Maroons’ comeback - almost 13 years after his last appearance. Andy Shearer signed for the Kynoch Park club in 2002 and went on to win eight major honours including their last title triumph in 2007. He moved to Formartine United in the summer of 2012, after 349 games in goal for Keith.
But with current Maroons’ goalie Craig Reid injured and his stand-by unavailable, manager Craig Ewen put a call in to 41-year-old Shearer, who last played for Banks o’ Dee this season. The veteran (pictured) was to finally make his 350th Maroons appearance on Friday night when he took his place between the sticks at Princess Royal Park in the Banffshire derby against Deveronvale. Sadly for Shearer it wasn’t a winning return as Vale hit back from 2-0 down to clinch a 3-2 win, despite some fine saves by the evergreen Shearer.
Keith vice-chairman and club historian Charlie Simpson has a full record on Shearer’s rich heritage at Kynoch Park, including the day he scored a goal from open play. Charlie said: “One of the Maroons’ greatest ever goalies was making his 350th Keith appearance with eight winners medals in his locker, and at the tender age of 41 years, 160 days he was the most ‘mature’ player in 60 years to turn out for the club.” His research revealed how Shearer debuted for the Maroons on August 3, 2002 in a 4-0 win over Forres Mechanics at Kynoch Park.
He was to claim two winners’ medals in his debut campaign, as Keith won both the Highland League Cup and Scottish Qualifying Cup (North) - the competition which determined the four Highland League clubs being put forward to the Scottish Cup that season. A powerful Keith team bossed by Martin Allan, then succeeded by midfield maestro Darren Still considered a trophy-less season as a failure in those days - and they seldom drew a blank. Shearer’s defiant displays between the sticks helped the Maroons win the Aberdeenshire Shield three years on the trot, and the third of those proved to be one of the Kynoch Parkers’ glory years.
A superb Keith team, with soon-to-become record goalscorer Cammy Keith leading the line, won a spectacular treble of Highland League title, Highland League Cup and Shire Shield. Shearer’s eighth and last honour in a six-year silverware glut came when he lifted the Aberdeenshire Cup in 2008-09, the only trophy that had previously evaded his ever-reliable hands. Charlie’s history books show that the super keeper also won four player of the year awards at Keith as well as a man of the match awards’ trophy shared with current Buckie Thistle player Andy Macaskill in 2012.
Shearer’s historic goal for Keith against Wick Academy on November 21, 2009 was the first-ever to find the net for a Maroons’ keeper, until current number one Craig Reid matched the achievement with an overhead kick at Huntly last March..
