Dyce Juniors 1 - 2 Formartine United

Friendly Match
Tuesday, July 16th, 2019, 7:00 PM at Ian Mair Park, Dyce
Attendance: 25
Referee: Dawid Galazka
Dyce Juniors v Formartine United, Jul 16th 2019, Ian Mair Park, Dyce
Dyce Juniors Formartine United 

Goalscorers
Boyle (74) Garry Wood (61)
Garry Wood (80)

Team Managers
Alan Youngson & Ritchie Clark Paul Lawson

Starting Eleven
Andy Pennycook
Ryan Wallace
Dick
Gary MacNamee
Tom Hutchinson
Blair Johnston
Adam MacNamee
Mark Bartlet
David Baillie
Boyle
Joe Barclay
Kevin Main
Johnny Crawford
Craig McKeown
Joe MacPherson
Stuart Anderson
Graeme Rodger
Wayne Mackintosh
Gregor Whyte
Gary McGowan
Kieran Lawrence
Garry Wood

Bench
Tom Yeats
Morrison
Scott Burnett
Keith
Kyle Leiper
Errol Watson
Murray Addison
Murray Esson
Paul Lawson
Cole Anderson
Jordan Leydon

Substitutions
None. Murray Addison for Joe MacPherson (40)
Jordan Leydon for Gregor Whyte (55)
Paul Lawson for Johnny Crawford (75)
Murray Esson for Gary McGowan (85)


There is always some learning to be gained in adverse circumstances and Formartine will have taken at least a measure of consolation in having not only survived what at times seemed like a bit of a kicking match conducted on a park that looked as if it was awaiting a second cut of silage but in grinding out a win against a team that knew a thing or two about preventing defeat by fair means and occasionally foul. The learning for United was largely about how they went about maintaining standards in such circumstances. This game was initially scheduled as the first part of a double header involving both Dyce and Montrose Roselea in immediate succession. The Montrose leg was cancelled leaving this as more of a stand alone fixture than initially envisaged. The consequences for team selection can only be guessed at but one or two key players MacPhee, Smith, Gethins or Greig did not feature in either the starting eleven or on the bench.

If these pre-season friendlies are intended primarily to get some fluency and strategy going after the lay off, then this one didn't yield too much of either of those dimensions even if it allowed a good run out for a squad of players who looked well fit, in the physical sense, for the season ahead. Even if the altered circumstances may have kyboshed some of the developmental strategy that management may have had in mind, their team went about their business in a disciplined and professional manner.

Dyce were in the main a spirited lot and looked well set on the principle of taking no prisoners. They had a mighty figure at the back in keeper Pennycook and a midfield that were quick enough to spot the danger posed by the direct running of Graeme Rodger. Having sussed the threat that the attacking midfielder carried, they singled him out for some rough house treatment on and not infrequently, off the ball. “Rodge”, however, is made of stern stuff and persisted determinedly despite the mauling he got particularly from the feet and elbows of Johnston.

The pace was brisk but there was little fluency from either side and few moves were sustained beyond three or four passes. That was partly a function of the pace but also of the rather heavy playing surface. By the mid point of the first half, United looked the better side and were edging the statistics for territory and possession - not enough to look particularly convincing or even that they would win the game but by and large they were giving more than they got. Later in this first spell they managed a period of sustained pressure on the home defence and were unlucky not to have opened their account before the interval. A move that started when Mackintosh in his own half threaded the ball though to McGowan on the right to get in a cross that was scrambled away only as far as Gregor Whyte who had the power and skill to work the ball in from wide left, splitting centre half and right back in the process before rattling a shot off the woodwork. Pressure was sustained through the remainder of the first half but despite a succession of corners and as many free kicks around the 20-25 yard range, the home goal remained intact.

The second period began with United on the offensive and again they had their hosts pinned back in their own territory. Subs were deployed by both sides – in fact United made their first immediately before half time when a more or less like for like swap of defenders saw McPherson replaced by Addison. It was the sub who started the 61st minute move that led to the opening goal. A strong tackle just outside his own box to dispossess Bailey gave him the ball that he drove through to Mackintosh to power forward with before slipping it out left to WOOD who cleared his marker to drive it hard and low from a tight angle not more than about 5 yards in from the goal line but still left of the target. His shot was struck with precision enough to squeeze the ball in to the net just a foot inside the far stick.

The game as by no means won yet and in the confusion of substantial numbers of substitutions either way, BOYLE managed to level things briefly for the Juniors in the 80th minute but they could only sustain that parity for three or four minutes before confusion between Pennycook and central defenders MacNamee and Hutchison left the space for Mackintosh to pinch the ball and square to WOOD who tapped it into the net.

Match report by Colin Keenan



Photography by Ian Rennie