Appearances & Goals To Date

Andy Shearer (GK)		46 apps	-
Craig McKeown		44 apps	9 goals
Craig Duguid		12 apps	1 goal
Graham Hay		15 apps	1 goal
Stuart Smith		43 apps	1 goal
Stuart Anderson		28 apps	7 goals
Callum Bagshaw		38 apps	3 goals
Hamish Munro		41 apps	1 goal
Stuart McKay		43 apps	15 goals
Paul Napier		32 apps	4 goals
Cammy Keith		45 apps	33 goals
Calum Dingwall (sub)		21 apps	2 goals
Marek Madle (sub)		12 apps	5 goals

Starting Lineup

Matchday Squad

First Team Debuts

Milestones

Yet again Formartine pulled the fat out of the fire to scrape a result in the dying minutes of a game they seemed on course to lose. Just as they had made a remarkable comeback against Keith in their last home game, they recovered to grab a point against Vale from the unlikely position of being two goals adrift with barely five minutes of “normal” time remaining. The trouble with playing the Get Out of Jail Free card is that you have to be in jail to use it in the first place and to do that you need to have been found guilty of something criminal. In this case, criminal carelessness in defence cost them two goals – one either side of half time – that put a sprightly looking Vale who were clearly out to impress their new management pairing of Manager Ally MacLeod and Coach Mark Chisholm, into a position from which they could, or really should, have won the match.

Each offence was committed by those who have few, if any previous convictions in that regard: centre half Hay in conjunction with keeper Shearer for the first and left back Stuart Smith for the second. From the home supporters’ perspective, this still reveals a worrying tendency to concede soft goals at dangerous moments. On this form, they certainly do not possess the ruthlessness normally associated with champions in the making even if their never say die spirit is to be commended.

Almost as usual, Formartine started brightly, taking the game to Vale and pinning them back in their own territory. The ball was pinged about at pace and at times with some verve and over the first fifteen minutes, Vale were forced into the counter-puncher’s part. Formartine did quite well in getting the ball out to the flanks where the wide men (Napier right and Duguid left) had a bit of pace and determination about them and were prepared to run at defenders with the ball. For all they did that, the level of supply to the front pairing of Keith and MacKay was well short of plentiful as a fairly muscular and well organised back four of Rae, Henry, Rennie and Cowie managed more or less to keep the threat contained to the wide areas beyond the penalty area. Vale too had a bit of pace out wide in the shape of Watt who also had the support of Colin Charlesworth in getting the ball into and through Formartine territory. When they did break Formartine’s midfield deficiency was exposed. Although setting out their stall with three at the back theoretically gave Formartine five in the middle, the problem was that in the absence of Clark and McVitie, they lacked ball winners and numerical superiority was insufficient to offset the missing bite that either or both of them bring. Thus in the 10th minute Rodger, on the end of a Rae clearance, managed to progress 50 or 60 yards untackled before slipping the ball across to Cowie whose drive from twenty five yards out was a tad high and wide of the keeper’s right upright.

Formartine’s riposte was a cleverly disguised and neatly executed diagonal ball across the goal face by McKay that was inches away from the head of the diving Keith. A few minutes later, the sprightly McKay got his head to a ball driven in from the right by Napier and with McConnachie stationed at the other post, the header slipped past the left upright. For the first half hour Formartine had more possession than Vale and exerted visible territorial advantage, but pressure aside, didn’t really look more likely than Vale to open the scoring. A break by Watt stretched the home rearguard and the offside rule in equal measure as the pacy Vale man managed to get one on one with the home keeper before driving the ball into the side netting. A 27th minute free kick by Anderson yielded a more or less free header for Hay near the back post but he was unable to direct the ball on target. Chances that are left a-begging are usually regretted and Formartine’s inability to convert pressure into goals would soon prove problematic. McKay came close with a twenty yard volley on the end of a Napier cross, but truth be told, keeper McConnachie was little exercised.

Vale’s opening goal, against the run of play in a territorial sense, was something of an embarrassment to two players who are normally uber–reliable. Centre half Hay attempting to intercept a ball from Watt to Martin Charlesworth not only missed it entirely, but blocked the keeper’s access to it in the process. CHARLESWORTH was in on it in a trice and managed to direct the ball between the legs and under the body of the sprawling keeper.
To score on the stroke of half time was just what the visitors and their new management needed to set themselves up with belief for the second period. That belief was enough to take them through an awkward opening spell where Formartine tried to force an early equaliser, but still lacking the midfield bite needed to sustain attack and raise a higher defensive line the result was more of an end to end struggle. Almost immediately after McKeown had pulled off s spectacular overhead kick that flashed past McConnachie’s right upright, the ball was back deep in Formartine territory. A ball into the area by Rennie was headed back out by left back Smith. The header lacked both conviction and accuracy and fell, almost lamely, for Cowie who advanced a yard or two before slipping it languidly left into the path of Martin CHARLESWORTH who from around fifteen yards out had more time and space than you’d find in a Tardis, simply passed the ball into the net.

Formartine didn’t seem unduly phased by this 52nd minute reverse and continued to play away without really looking like finding the net. Their work rate was reasonable, Duguid and McKay made way for the fresher legs of Dingwall and Madle but little else seemed to change. They still had the lion’s share of the ball, spent more time in Vale territory than their own but the game looked increasingly like it would conclude at 2-0. A superb diving save by Shearer at the feet of Aitken kept faint home hopes alive until, as the final whistle approached and Formartine were fully installed in the Vale box, a tug on Anderson went momentarily unpunished but seconds later, McKeown muscling his way forward in the box was shoved by Henry – not a big blatant one, more a wee sneaky effort but enough to get him off balance. Ref Milne spied it and gave the penalty. Cammy KEITH buried this hard low and right and Formartine had a glimmer of hope.

This was also just enough to cast seeds of doubt in Vale minds – could they hold out for a further five minutes or so now that the Formartine tails were up? Committing everything to attack, Formartine completed their escape with a stoppage time equaliser. The siege on the Vale goalmouth concluded with what in the circumstances was quite a well worked and calmly executed goal. A throw in on the left about 20 yards out taken by Smith was quickly delivered via Dingwall and Madle to Anderson who had ghosted into a position a yard or two left of the penalty spot. With consummate precision he delivered the ball past the despairing reach of the diving McConnachie to get Formartine out of jail again.

Match report by Colin Keenan

None.