Appearances & Goals To Date

Kevin Main (GK)		28 apps	-
Joe MacPherson		12 apps	-
Johnny Crawford		115 apps	6 goals
Stuart Smith		217 apps	20 goals
Stuart Anderson		189 apps	33 goals
Andrew Greig		41 apps	18 goals
Graeme Rodger		161 apps	57 goals
Aaron Norris		11 apps	1 goal
Kieran Lawrence		38 apps	2 goals
Archie MacPhee		65 apps	45 goals
Garry Wood		120 apps	62 goals
Liam Burnett (sub)		60 apps	7 goals
Cole Anderson (sub)		1 app (debut)	-
Conor Gethins (sub)		88 apps	36 goals

Starting Lineup

Matchday Squad

First Team Debuts

Cole Anderson

(Signed August 1st, 2018)

Milestones

Even back in the day when both these clubs were still plying their trade in the Junior Leagues there was very little love lost between them. Since then, with both now slugging it out in the Highland League, the level of rivalry has if anything increased while that of any lingering affection from that shared history has all but evaporated. Competition between them it can fairly be said, has a bit of an edge to it. This was the first Round of the Breedon Aggregates Highland League Cup and Formartine are the current holders. It goes without saying that were Locos to dislodge the North Lodgers from their prized trophy the triumphalism at local level would be intense in the extreme, but what better way to put one over your arch rivals than to let them build up enough of a lead to start them dreaming of heavenly delights before sticking it to them by blowing their hopes right out of the water with five goals in little more than half an hour. Oh how that must have hurt; what joy for the United faithful.

This had all the topsy turvy elements of a true cup tie played out on a chilly afternoon before a crowd of around 500. Locos were clearly up for it and started at a cracking pace. United matched that OK but for the first few minutes there was a sense that the visitors were out to set the pace while their hosts weren't over keen to be drawn into 100mph stuff and preferred, where possible a more studied approach. Of late they have been playing like they choose to move up steadily through the gears until by the second half they are dictating the game on overdrive. Locos were first to show after a break through the middle ground by MacLean to set up Leyden was completed by home keeper Main comfortably pulling down his cross cum shot from near the junction of his left upright and the bar. United responded with a break down the left where Greig's final ball was whipped diagonally across the goal mouth where a glancing header by Wood flashed inches past Reid's left post.

For all that Locos tried to set the pace, it was United who created the early goal threats. MacPhee went close in the 9th minute with a crafty one through a forest of legs from the edge of the box and Greig was turning former North Lodge utility player Michie inside out in the course of producing a series of balls into the box for Wood, MacPhee, Rodger and Norris.

In the 13th minute Locos' high tempo in the midfield created an opening for Angus to break into the box near the right corner and hit one on the volley that Main stretched to grab at the postage stamp corner. He has the knack of making difficult saves look easier than they are and this was one of these. Locos were giving it laldy by now and their rag tag rhythm section of three or four bedraggled looking supporters producing a rhythmless cacophony on some junk store drums were really fired up as their side took the lead in the 18th minute. There looked to be no immediate danger as a MacLean ball for Angus seemed to find a no man's land near the left corner of the 6 yard box but an apparent lack of communication in that side of the back four resulted in enough hesitancy for Leyden to nick in and pop the ball into the net.

As the hemipygic paradiddles ramped up, Locos were playing like the scent of victory was in their nostrils: the pace was high but they weren't really dominating in terms of either pace or territory and by the half hour mark although they were still a goal to the good, it was United who were beginning to get the upper hand and led the corner count by 8 to 1. They had Locos confined to their own neck of the woods for increasing periods but were strangely over elaborate in their build up and repeatedly got caught out by simply trying to deliver too many passes in the final third. The result was congestion and goal attempts that rebounded off defenders and others. This may have raised the corner count but it didn't level the scoreline.

Against the run of play to some extent Locos increased their lead in the 39th minute. MacPhee had come close with a late trundler that Reid took low to his right and pressure in and around the Locos box was sustained but Reid wasn't seriously tested: a Norris whiz bang from thirty yards wasn't too far off target but there were normally too many bodies of each persuasion in the box for there to be a clear sight of target for the Formartine forwards. The Locos second came after sustained United pressure when MacLean picking up the ball not far outside his own box made straight upfield and outsmarting MacPherson simply squared the ball right to left for Angus inside him to clip home from 15 yards out for number 2.

For all that Locos were leading, Formartine were beginning to boss all other aspects of the game. Still they were over elaborate in their build up but the momentum was with them. They found something much more direct on the stroke of half time. A searing run down the left by Greig aided by a one two with Smith took him past both Duff and Michie to deliver the ball to the head of ANDERSON a step or so inside the penalty spot for the home captain to bullet his header beyond the reach of Reid.

From that point on there was only going to be one winner: United had the momentum and had found the way to unpick the visiting defence: all they needed now was a few more goals. Greig was on form and full of confidence. A 47th minute trundler from the left corner of the box stretched Reid and it was clear that goals were on their way. United had too much up front for the visitors. The pace of Norris and the trickery of Greig was more than they could handle and pressure mounted. It took twelve minutes of the second half to level the game when WOOD in full flight made a rampaging run from the inside right channel to take a Rodger feed, split Souter and Crisp and slam the ball past Reid from about twelve yards out.

It took only another couple of minutes to establish the lead with what was the goal of the match. A period of United bombardment of the village end goal was only partially relieved by a Reid clearance that was blocked near half way and quickly fed onto NORRIS near the right corner of the box. In space, he calculated the angles to perfection and with a sublime bit of skill lobbed the ball over the keeper and into the net just shy of the back stick.

From that point on it was clear who was going into the next round and that it wasn't going to be Locos. The drumming ceased never to be heard again. A blessed peace: -The Silence of the Bams. Two further goals were the icing on the cake for United and they were in complete control by this stage. MacPhee was masterminding a lot of stuff in the area in front of the Locos box and as United pressed, Locos sat deeper and deeper. This suited United fine and with sub Gethins showing too much guile for visitors to contain. He started off a move through the inside right with a cheeky back heel to Rodger who broke forward to release the ball to MACPHEE who had the ball in the net in the blink of an eye for 4-2.

Liam Burnett was the next sub to make his mark and driving at pace into the right corner of the box he was chopped by “Chopper” Broadhurst and the penalty awarded. GREIG completed his man of the match performance by slotting home the spot kick low to Reid's left to complete a fully deserved score line that clearly evidences the difference in class between these old rivals.

Match report by Colin Keenan



Photography by Ian Rennie

None.