Formartine United 6 - 1 Rothes 

League - HFL
Wednesday, September 14th, 2016, 8:00 PM at North Lodge Park, Pitmedden
Attendance: 110
Referee: Liam Duncan
Mascot: Stuart MacKintosh & Owen Rankine
Formartine United v Rothes, Sep 14th 2016, North Lodge Park, Pitmedden
Formartine United  Rothes

Goalscorers
Scott Barbour (5)
Scott Barbour (11)
Garry Wood (42)
Garry Wood (64)
Garry Wood (67)
Jamie Masson (90)
Craig MacMillan (89)

Team Managers
Kris Hunter Fraser Bremner

Starting Eleven
Ewen MacDonald
Shane Jamieson
Jamie Michie
Johnny Crawford
Calum Dingwall
Stuart Anderson
Max Berton
Graeme Rodger
Scott Ferries
Scott Barbour
Garry Wood
Sean McIntosh (GK)
Finlay Stables
Scott Davidson
Blair McDonald
Kelvin Main
Ruari Watt
Sean Jennings
Kyle Gauld
Sean McIntosh (FWD)
Kayode Ezekiel
Ryan Stuart

Bench
Andy Reid
Stuart Smith
Scott Henry
Derek Young
Paul Lawson
Jamie Masson
Conor Gethins
Richard Henderson
Daniel Smith
Craig MacMillan
David McNamara
Nathan Sharp
Grant Johnston

Substitutions
Jamie Masson for Graeme Rodger (21)
Conor Gethins for Scott Ferries (67)
Stuart Smith for Max Berton (84)
Richard Henderson for Sean McIntosh (FWD) (68)
Daniel Smith for Ryan Stuart (68)
Craig MacMillan for Kelvin Main (72)

Bookings
Scott Ferries (37)
Kelvin Main (28)

Red Cards
None. None.
Appearances & Goals To Date
Ewen MacDonald (GK) 7 apps -
Shane Jamieson 2 apps -
Jamie Michie 27 apps -
Johnny Crawford 46 apps2 goals
Calum Dingwall 82 apps5 goals
Stuart Anderson 99 apps23 goals
Max Berton 22 apps1 goal
Graeme Rodger 55 apps18 goals
Scott Ferries 4 apps -
Scott Barbour 50 apps22 goals
Garry Wood 52 apps33 goals
Stuart Smith (sub) 122 apps10 goals
Jamie Masson (sub) 29 apps3 goals
Conor Gethins (sub) 12 apps6 goals

Starting Lineup
Youngest Player:Scott Ferries (20 years 196 days)
Oldest Player:Stuart Anderson (30 years 153 days)
Average Player Age:24 years 247 days
Domestic Players:11 (100.00 % of starting eleven)

Matchday Squad
Youngest Player:Scott Ferries (20 years 196 days)
Oldest Player:Derek Young (36 years 119 days)
Average Player Age:27 years 121 days
Domestic Players:17 (94.44 % of matchday squad)

First Team Debuts

Milestones
Scott Barbour played his 50th major competitive game for the Club.

Manager Hunter was true to his pledge to ring the changes after the weekend's thumping at the hands (or should it be feet?) of arch rivals, Cove. Six of that starting eleven were relegated to the bench meaning a radically different team where MacDonald, in goal with Michie, Dingwall and Shane Jamieson in defence and Ferries and Barbour further forward all making the start sent the crystal clear message that no player, even the club captain (Paul Lawson) is exempt from imposed discipline after a lacklustre performance.

The influence of that restructuring was so immediate and marked that barely a few minutes into the game the old slick, quick-fire, pass and move game that had all but deserted United this season so far was back for all to see. They took the game directly to the visitors and within a minute had them pinned right back in their own final third and before another had elapsed, forced two corners, one on each side- which although unrewarded caused enough defensive mayhem before being cleared to suggest that Rothes were in for a long night. With Barbour, Berton and Wood rumbling things up at the front and the back four encamped at the halfway line it took only five minutes of essentially one way traffic for United to breach the Rothes defence for the first time. It was BARBOUR who made the breakthrough. A throw in a few yards from the corner flag taken by Michie went straight to the forward who jinked his way a few yards along the edge of the box before feinting enough to make the gap through which he struck the ball beyond the reach of Mackintosh.

Five minutes later he grabbed another. Michie had worked the ball in from the right to Ferries who struck a scintillating 18 yard low curling shot that threaded its way round two defenders before smacking off the keeper's right upright. BARBOUR was onto the rebound in a flash and before anyone else could react he had clipped the ball into the net for number two.

Rothes are known to have improved a lot of late and did what they could to get back into the game but for all they chased and harried, they simply couldn't impose themselves on a United defence where the new central pairing of Crawford and Jamieson looked impressive. Crawford playing forward of Jamieson was tigerish in the tackle and was quick to spot and neutralise any threat to his territory while Jamieson looked to be a real find exercising calm authority on the deck and really reliable judgement in the air where he dominated proceedings. With the exception of a forty yard free kick which was allowed to run through to be collected by keeper Macdonald, Rothes never managed to get the ball into the Formartine box.

However, they were offering up some measure of competition in the middle of the park - not enough create a significant threat but almost enough to protect their own bubble from hostile incursion by United. They held out in this way until the 42nd minute when Gary Wood who had been a real handful for McDonald and Main, made the first instalment of his hat trick. He'd gone close a couple of times: a drive that went just over the junction of upright and bar and a header that did much the same from closer range. This time lurking wide beyond the line of defenders he picked up a cross from Dingwall and slotted it home, low hard and right from about 15 yards out.

The second half began with another siege to the Rothes rearguard but with no compunction about putting 8 or 9 behind the ball they managed to keep United at bay until the 62 minute. Michie had made a run down the right flank before jinking past Main before whipping a lowish, driven ball into the maelstrom just in front of the goal line. Wood showed strength in forcing his way into position to get to the ball and finesse in flicking it up before launching it into the net from close range. Two minutes later he completed his hat- trick by picking up a low cross from his left by Dingwall and crashing it into the net at the near post.

At 5-0 there was a sense of some redemption for the Cove debacle but for all that the game was well beyond them Rothes showed their pride and produced the goal of the game. With two minutes to go, they broke out of their defensive shell to launch a swift attack through the middle. With United defenders back pedalling a space opened up in front of them sub MacMILLAN picking up a through ball by Jennings seized his chance and launched an outrageous, spectacular 35 yard volley over the defenders and beyond the reach of Macdonald into the postage stamp corner.
In the last minute, MASSON was rewarded for a very busy and successful shift. With what proved to be the last kick of the ball, he crashed a twenty five yard drive through the crowded penalty box into the net. It sounded like it took some deflection but such was the power of the initial shot, the ball continued with minimal if any visible deviation from its initial route and beat defenders and keeper all ends up.

Manager Hunter described the performance he got as the just the reaction he wanted - very pleasing. He was particularly impressed with the performances of Shane Jamieson, maybe the find we have been looking for, and Jamie Michie who showed tremendous energy and attitude. With 5 goals between them he also singled out the pairing of Gary Wood and Scott Barbour as maybe the partnership we are looking for up front.

Match report by Colin Keenan



Photography by Ian Rennie

None.

Programme cover / Team sheet