Appearances & Goals To Date

Andy Reid (GK)		43 apps	-
Scott Henry		5 apps	-
Johnny Crawford		42 apps	2 goals
Jamie Michie		26 apps	-
Calum Dingwall		77 apps	5 goals
Stuart Smith		116 apps	10 goals
Paul Lawson		38 apps	13 goals
Graeme Rodger		49 apps	14 goals
Scott Barbour		44 apps	17 goals
Neil Gauld		45 apps	27 goals
Conor Gethins		6 apps	3 goals
Neil McVitie (sub)		75 apps	14 goals
Max Berton (sub)		16 apps	1 goal
Garry Wood (sub)		46 apps	30 goals

Starting Lineup

Matchday Squad

First Team Debuts

Milestones

There’s narrow wins, poor wins, flukey wins and all sorts of other wins. All are welcome to the victors, albeit some more than others. Formartine won this one on the back of a performance that could best be described as indifferent and the final score-line, based on a goal that Clach players, fans and officials steadfastly maintain never crossed the goal line and a penalty, soft as thistledown, awarded deep in stoppage time flatters United at the expense of the Merkinch men. Formartine have played a sight better than this and lost.

You can’t criticise Formartine for decisions the ref makes – this was the same ref that officiated the famous “five goalies game“ at Inverurie last season and it could well be posited that the United goal, had it not been awarded would have been replaced by a penalty kick and a likely red card for handball that denied a clear goal scoring opportunity. The decision that the ball had crossed the line and was not therefore in play before the handball spared Clach the alternative of facing a penalty and playing a man short for over an hour.

The game began in warm, sultry conditions with each side trying to compress the other by advancing their defensive lines which left lots of space between the back fours and the keepers. Two minutes in, Maclean picked up a short clearance from Finnis deep in his own half and made off towards the other end of the park. He eluded, without much difficulty any attempt to delay or deflect his progress until he reached the United box. There Crawford came near to getting on terms with him and did just enough to force him to take his shot from a tighter angle than he otherwise would. Reid did well to get two hands to the ball and beat it away.

The ball was worked quickly up the park as United pressed. They forced defenders back and worked the ball around the fringes of the box before a Gauld snap shot rebounded from a thicket of limbs to be picked up by Lawson lurking about 25 yards out and a touch left of centre. He went close with a crafty low drive that rebounded to safety from keeper Campbell’s right heel.

Both sides had similar weaknesses of being much stronger in midfield when in possession and moving forward than when trying to retrieve the ball from the opposition. It made for end to end stuff. In the 19th minute, after a United attack had been broken up, Smith lumped the ball up the park. United defenders were loosely strung out around the halfway line and Henry took an all or nothing decision to stick out a long leg to reach the ball at waist height. He missed by a whisker and was left utterly exposed as LAWRIE blasted past him, collected the ball and was left, still 50 yards out, virtually in a one on one with the keeper. He quickly reduced the gap, drew Reid and hammered the ball high into the net.

United certainly didn’t hit the panic button and continued to play the ball about neatly and accurately but without much apparent urgency. They were calm measured, seemingly relaxed and nobody seemed to get beyond their comfort zone. It gave them decent possession and produced a period of pressure that had Clach hemmed into their own back quarter and forced a couple of corners. The second of these in the 19th minute was on the left and struck in-swinging to the scrum between the penalty spot and the goal. In the midst of this GETHINS made space for a shot with a sort of overhead effort that rebounded from the inside of the right upright then the underside of the bar before being batted away by an ungloved hand. The assistant having been correctly positioned for the corner was bang in line – and in no doubt about the validity of a goal that incensed Clach.

After the stushie of protest subsided the game resumed its formulaic progress. Formartine had slightly the better of territory and possession and at times they produced some fluent flowing stuff from box to box but Clach, never quite as pretty to look at, seemed nevertheless just as menacing as United on the, break. However it was mostly uninspired and uninspiring stuff. In the 29th minute Barbour had a shot on the turn from 12 yards out decently saved by Campbell and in the 34th minute, a teasing lob by Lawson was headed clear at the cost of an unrewarded corner.
The interval did little to change the pattern of play by either side and goal mouth action was at a premium. In the 48th minute Gauld got clear of McIntosh and rifled in a close range shot from a tight angle but it was blocked by Campbell before being scrambled clear.

By the hour mark Formartine having failed to break down a stuffy but not particularly inspiring side, seemed to run out of ideas or at least those that could be implemented without an increase in commitment and Clach came more into it. Sub Robertson took a direct central route through a retreating midfield and got to a step or so inside the box before skewing his finishing effort about a yard wide of the right upright.

Dingwall gave way to Berton in the 65th but the sub was largely marked out of causing any real danger and the balance of play drifted more Clach’s way. Ryan MacDonald linked with Robertson and the former’s shot from about 15 yards was blocked to rebound to the other about the same distance out, but to his left. The ensuing shot flashed inches wide of the near post. Clach maintained pressure and a Penwright header flew just wide left but Formartine weren’t done quite yet.

They brought on the bandaged Wood to rumble up the visiting defenders. With his Rab C Nesbit headband, he turned the locus of action to the visitors final third and rampaged about like a bear with a sore head. Although Wood didn’t make the score sheet he did a lot to keep the pressure at that end and deep in injury time Barbour trying to wriggle between defenders went down near the penalty spot. Who if anyone brought him down is a moot point but the ref was well placed and saw enough to give a penalty.

Paul Lawson (who missed the crucial shoot out penalty in midweek) took his captain’s responsibility, stepped bravely up to the mark and thumped the ball home low and hard to the left hand corner to nick all three points.

Match report by Colin Keenan



Photography by Ian Rennie

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