Appearances & Goals To Date

Andy Shearer (GK)		35 apps	-
Craig Duguid		3 apps	-
Graham Hay		4 apps	-
Mark Smith		6 apps	-
Craig McKeown		32 apps	7 goals
Stuart Smith		32 apps	1 goal
Neil McVitie		27 apps	4 goals
Callum Bagshaw		32 apps	3 goals
Hamish Munro		29 apps	1 goal
Paul Napier		23 apps	2 goals
Cammy Keith		33 apps	27 goals
Calum Dingwall (sub)		16 apps	-
Sam French (sub)		2 apps	2 goals
Marek Madle (sub)		4 apps	1 goal

Starting Lineup

Matchday Squad

First Team Debuts

Milestones

Any team that refuses to capitulate after going behind three times in a match and then goes on to win in extra time has to have an extraordinary degree of sheer guts and determination about it. In their first match in defence of their proudly held Evening Express Aberdeenshire Cup they faced an extraordinarily fired up Vale side (an injury ravaged version had been bulldozed 5-0 by Brora at the weekend). They are a proud club and although Formartine manager Paterson had issued stern warnings about the dangers of a Vale backlash, few could have anticipated the blistering pace with which they started this game. Although it looked like Formartine had elected for a high tempo opening phase, Vale flew at them with almost manic intensity from the start and certainly initially forced the home-side onto the back foot. Colin Charlesworth made an opening burst blazing down the left forcing an unrewarded corner. Less than a minute later Hay, under pressure Martin Charlesworth under- hit a chested pass-back to Shearer prompting a wee flap at the back until the big defender made amends by just retrieving and clearing the ball.

Formartine were chasing and harrying but despite their best efforts were struggling to match the frenetic pace of their hosts. Another corner on the left in the wake of another Colin Charlesworth run down the flank went through a couple of phases before being partially cleared to RODGER lurking in the hole beyond the edge of the box. He skelped a vicious swinging dipping effort that flew into the net at about shoulder height to Shearer’s left. Initially this 6th minute opener looked like it could be the prelude to more but the slightly re-arranged Formartine defence (no Jeffrey) held tight. Stalwart work by McVitie, Rusty Smith and Munro supplemented the rearguard of Duguid, Stuart Smith, McKeown and Hay and bit by bit Formartine began to weather the storm. By the time half an hour had elapsed the home back line had managed to push forward nearer to the half way line [at least at times]. The absence of Anderson seemed significant in that the link between midfield and the front pair of Keith and Napier was not as slick as usual.

Formartine nevertheless were doing more of their midfield scrapping in Vale territory than they had done earlier. This was sometimes a mixed blessing as it allowed a very well organised away side to break from deep in seemingly well- rehearsed attacking moves. One of these, in the 38th minute, came perilously close to putting them two ahead. After some Formartine pressure in the middle of visiting territory, a sweeping move started by Henry released Urquhart to feed Colin Charlesworth breaking in from the inside left channel to the box. From there, with Shearer, moving to close down the angle he leathered a blistering drive that flew just wide of the back post. A two goal deficit that early with the way the impetus of the game had been, might well have been insurmountable for Formartine.
Instead, they put themselves right back in it. Cammy Keith on the edge of the box and fairly central drew a penalty from Cowie. He showed him the ball before slipping it a few feet right into space at right angles to the player. As the forward pursued the ball, the midfielder’s leg went between the cunning Cammy and the ball bringing the striker to ground a foot or so inside the box. KEITH took the penalty himself, driving the ball law and very hard to McConnachie’s right in the 42nd minute.

The second half began at the same pace as the first and again Vale had their hosts on the back foot. 6 minutes after pleasantries resumed, Vale resumed the lead. After period of pressure but without any shots on target, Colin Charlesworth whipped the ball in to COWIE who was around 8 yards out. The midfielder atoned for his penalty indiscretion by catching the ball on the half-volley and directing it beyond Shearer’s reach.

This cup means a lot to Formartine who were not going to see it taken from them and they somehow found an extra gear from somewhere and put more pressure on Vale. In the 54th minute a free kick about 30 yards out left central, was struck by McKeown. It flew past the wall before rebounding from the underside of the cross bar hitting the goal line and spinning forward enough for it to be hastily booted away for an unrewarded corner .Intense Formartine pressure was sustained and two minutes later they were a awarded another penalty. “Rusty” Smith, to the right of goal and near the bye- line almost managed to resist the shove in the back from Wilmshurst before succumbing to the tackle from behind from the same player. Cammy KEITH strode confidently forward for the spot kick. The big question was to which side of the keeper would he put it this time? Varying his repertoire, he hit it again hard and low but this time to the left of the keeper.

Again Formartine had pulled the fat from the fire, but again Vale responded by getting their noses back in front. This was in the 78th minute and by way of variation, by Route One. A long punt up the park out of central defence reached Martin CHARLESWORTH, who split McKeown and Hay and blasted on towards the edge of the box before ripping a fierce drive past Shearer.

For a third time, Formartine fought their way back into it with a beautifully constructed and executed goal. Full back Duguid broke down the right before feeding the ball on to Napier. The striker kept wide and took the ball into space beyond the right side of the box before flighting a perfectly judged twenty five yard cross to the head of sub MADLE whose cleverly executed looping header went above the reach of McConnachie but dropped in time to get under the bar and into the net.

The remaining few minutes saw continued furious activity but with Formartine looking the more likely to snatch a dramatic late winner. This failed to materialise and extra time began with forward French coming on for full back Duguid. The astute (if perhaps enforced) substitution gave Formartine an extra attacking option which paid off within four minutes when after an attack down the left, Napier played in Keith at the edge of the area. Cammy held the ball just long enough for FRENCH to make a space near the back stick. The striker slipped the ball to the sub who guided it cooly and accurately into the back of the net. It is a credit to the fitness of both sets of players that they had the fitness to sustain the incredible pace with which this game was conducted. Perhaps Formartine thanks to the efforts of fitness coach Copeland just shaded it in this respect as they finished the stronger looking side. Either way they began to dominate possession at least enough to reduce Vale to sporadic but still quite scary breakaways. As they ran down the clock in the face of still very spirited Vale resistance, you could see that Formartine were not going to surrender their precious trophy without the mother of all fights. They now face either Buckie or Keith at home.

Match report by Colin Keenan

None.