Formartine United 1 - 0 Forres Mechanics 

League - HFL
Saturday, July 25th, 2015, 3:00 PM at North Lodge Park, Pitmedden
Attendance: 300
Referee: Graham Beaton
Formartine United v Forres Mechanics, Jul 25th 2015, North Lodge Park, Pitmedden
Formartine United  Forres Mechanics

Goalscorers
Garry Wood (42)
None.

Team Managers
Kris Hunter Charlie Rowley

Starting Eleven
Andy Reid
Craig McKeown
Jamie Michie
Johnny Crawford
Stuart Smith
Stuart Anderson
Graeme Rodger
Paul Lawson
Scott Barbour
Neil Gauld
Garry Wood
Grant Pennet
Simon Allan
Graeme Grant
Ross MacPherson
Scott H Moore
Craig McGovern
Duncan Jones
Liam Baxter
Dachi Khutsishvili
Gordon Finlayson
Stuart Soane

Bench
Phil Anderson
Stuart Axten
Calum Dingwall
Callum Bagshaw
Max Berton
Cammy Keith
Trialist
Steven Ffraser
Fraser Forbes
Andrew Howard
Connor MacIver
Ross Paterson
Steven Simpson

Substitutions
Callum Bagshaw for Neil Gauld (79)
Calum Dingwall for Scott Barbour (89)
None.

Bookings
Johnny Crawford (69)
Stuart Anderson (75)
Paul Lawson (82)
Craig McGovern (57)
Scot H Moore (89)

Red Cards
None. None.
Appearances & Goals To Date
Andy Reid (GK) 1 app (debut) -
Craig McKeown 51 apps10 goals
Jamie Michie 1 app (debut) -
Johnny Crawford 1 app (debut) -
Stuart Smith 69 apps2 goals
Stuart Anderson 54 apps9 goals
Graeme Rodger 1 app (debut) -
Paul Lawson 1 app (debut) -
Scott Barbour 1 app (debut) -
Neil Gauld 1 app (debut) -
Garry Wood 1 app (debut)1 goal
Calum Dingwall (sub) 42 apps4 goals
Callum Bagshaw (sub) 57 apps8 goals

Starting Lineup
Youngest Player:Scott Barbour (23 years 205 days)
Oldest Player:Paul Lawson (31 years 78 days)
Average Player Age:27 years 88 days
Domestic Players:11 (100.00 % of starting eleven)

Matchday Squad
Youngest Player:Max Berton (20 years 25 days)
Oldest Player:Paul Lawson (31 years 78 days)
Average Player Age:25 years 361 days
Domestic Players:16 (94.12 % of matchday squad)

First Team Debuts
Andy Reid(Signed June 23rd, 2015)
Garry Wood(Signed June 13th, 2015)
Graeme Rodger(Signed July 10th, 2015)
Jamie Michie(Signed July 4th, 2015)
Johnny Crawford(Signed July 10th, 2015)
Neil Gauld(Signed July 4th, 2015)
Paul Lawson(Signed July 8th, 2015)
Scott Barbour(Signed June 5th, 2015)

Milestones
Garry Wood scored his first goal for the Club.

Had Formartine failed to win this opening game of the season, it would have been an embarrassment more than a calamity, but with only two of the starting eleven that finished last season, the radically rebuilt squad of new manager Kris Hunter faced the daunting prospect of opening their league campaign against a side they had only beaten twice in thirteen attempts. There is no doubting the quality of the individual players recruited but getting them to gel enough to withstand the very physical challenge offered by a more settled side is something that takes time. In the end Formartine reversed the losing trend and put together a spirited performance against a side that are notoriously difficult to score against. They got better as the game progressed and there were several passages of play of a very high order. There were one or two errors too, but crucially these were never repeated. In short, they played well and gave clear signs that they will get even better with time.

Forres were savvy enough to recognise Formartine’s potential vulnerability in their players’ lack of familiarity with each others’ style of play and set out to catch them cold. There was too much quality and experience in the North Lodge ranks to fall for that and the opening minutes, played at a furious pace were of an end to end nature. The combative McGovern linked with the fast and tricky Baxter but the latter’s first foray into United territory was ended by a no nonsense intervention by McKeown. At the other end Stuart Smith made ground down the left flank before feeding the ball through to Barbour who took it through the inside left channel before unloading a crisp low shot that Pennet managed to smother beside his right up- right. There was little between the two sides for the first twenty minutes or thereby: attacks at either end tended to break down around the fringes of the penalty area where little quarter was asked or given. A collision between Soane and McKeown on the fringe of the home box saw the Forres midfielder requiring attention before resuming. Initially Forres managed to sustain periods of pressure on the home rearguard for slightly longer than Formartine could on their visitors’ one. Not a lot in it and Formartine did look to carry quite a goal threat on the break and worked the ball quickly from back to front where Wood’s rumbustious presence clearly taxed Moore and MacPherson. With the quicksilver Gauld playing off him there was an ever present goal threat.

In the 14th minute Baxter used his searing pace to split McKeown and Crawford to get one on one with the advancing Reid who did enough to close down the angle of attack so that the shot which had to clear the keeper to find its target, also cleared the cross bar. Baxter never again got between the home centre backs and although he still had the pace to challenge them was nevertheless effectively contained for the rest of the game. Formartine’s back four of Michie, Smith, McKeown and Crawford played a significant role in the side’s eventual victory by resolutely dismantling all that Kutsishvilli, Baxter and Soane created. Playing quite deep initially, they managed to gradually advance their defensive line as time went on and increasingly release Michie and Smith on the flanks. In addition, the accuracy and vision of Lawson’s distribution meant that Formartine’s capacity to change defence into attack was beginning to turn the game in their favour.

Half an hour in, whatever marginal advantage in possession and territory Mechanics may have held began to fade and Formartine gradually gained the upper hand. They managed several phases of attack where they managed to pin the visitors down in their own back yard and shots from Anderson, Rodger, Wood and Barbour either went close or were beaten away by Pennet. There was now enough sustained pressure for a goal to seem imminent. In the 39th minute, an overlapping move down the left by Smith and Barbour allowed the former to get into position to swing over a superbly weighted ball directly into the path of WOOD. The big striker muscled his way between defenders before delivering a venomous diving header that fairly skelped the ball past the left hand of Pennet. It was an excellently worked and clinically delivered goal and it had to be because Forres don’t give many chances.

This visibly settled Formartine who seemed to move up a gear as they sought to extend their their lead. The ball was contained in the visitors’ half for most of the remaining minutes of the first half and although there was a fair bombardment of a densely populated penalty area, the Mechanics rearguard held firm. A superbly timed late run to the near post by Rodger to latch onto a corner kick ended with his fierce header flying only inches over the top. An Anderson drive rebounded from the woodwork and Mechanics rode their luck. Barbour, who ended as man of the match, also went close with a header during this period.

After the interval, Formartine resumed their pressure and largely dictated their terms to the visitors but found Forres to be very well practiced in and comfortable with a counter punching approach. Their early attempts at imposing themselves on Formartine had been successfully overcome and they reverted to pretty much the style that won them the title a few seasons back. They are very good indeed at shutting up shop and looking to steal a goal on the fly and for all Formartine had them pinned back, the single goal margin seemed scarily slender at times. There were opportunities to extend the lead – one fell to Wood but he put his 53rd minute shot over the top. McKeown did well to get in behind the defenders near the back stick to collect a corner kick from the left. His angled 25 yard drive was well and accurately struck but Pennet was well placed to make the save at his left upright. A 25 yard free kick by Lawson went very close. The ball was flying towards the postage stamp corner and dipped viciously but only enough to land on the roof of the net

Minutes later the fates conspired to deny Formartine the comfort of a second goal. In a closely packed penalty area, Rodger managed to get the ball over to Gauld only a few yards out. The wee striker was onto it in a trice but it rebounded from the underside of the bar straight into the arms of a very relieved Pennet who seemed to know little about what had happened. Formartine looked to be going through a flatter phase around the 70th minute. Their pressure was not getting them the goal they wanted and Mechanics seemed comfortable enough playing off the back foot. Sharpness suffered for a while and although Forres exploited this to some extent and seeking to extract something from the game asked Formartine a few questions. Kutsishvilli was fed by Jones but hesitated just enough to be closed down by Crawford before being dispossessed.

Formartine replaced Gauld with Bagshaw to tighten the midfield and having resisted what Forres had to throw at them, competently played out the remaining time to emerge as comfortable winners as a single goal advantage allows.

Match report by Colin Keenan



Photography by Ian Rennie

None.