Appearances & Goals To Date

Andy Shearer (GK)		57 apps	-
Calum Dingwall		33 apps	3 goals
Graham Hay		32 apps	7 goals
Stephen Jeffrey		42 apps	1 goal
Stuart Smith		60 apps	1 goal
Stuart Anderson		45 apps	8 goals
Gary Clark		39 apps	1 goal
Hamish Munro		55 apps	2 goals
Cammy Keith		60 apps	43 goals
Marek Madle		28 apps	16 goals
Paul Napier		48 apps	4 goals
Craig Duguid (sub)		23 apps	1 goal
Stuart McKay (sub)		55 apps	17 goals

Starting Lineup

Matchday Squad

First Team Debuts

Milestones

A sparse crowd reflected the fact that many potential supporters of either side might have anticipated a rather dull end of season affair with the sides going through the motions and not overly concerned with the outcome. That was the theory; the reality was a keenly contested encounter by two evenly matched sides with the draw being a fair reflection on the balance of play overall Each side had spells where they looked to be on top but some rather profligate attempts at finishing either end of the park, good goal keeping and a number of utterly bizarre, incomprehensible decisions in each direction from an officiating trio who have, over the season earned themselves the collective soubriquet of “the Chuckle Brothers” conspired to keep the score down.

It was Formartine who had the better of the opening exchanges with Marek Madle ranging either side of Cammy Keith up front, having some early success in stretching the visitors’ back line. The home strategy seemed to be to try and maintain a high defensive line and compress the visitors as much as possible into their own half of the park. It had some early success: a move involving both strikers and midfielder Anderson created a bit of a chance for Gary Clark who had a pop from about twenty yards out. He did well to get into position to make the attempt but finished with a bit of a sliced effort. Broch had a measure of pace and trickery about them and West had the legs to leave Jeffrey making a number of increasingly futile off-side claims. These were doubly pointless as usually they were the result of his own lack of pace in the first place and he was dealing with officials whose application of the rule was at best inconsistent, anyway.
Napier was beavering away on the right flank and had one or two efforts that required prompt attention by keeper Cowe. Callum Dingwall made a couple of well- timed late runs one of which finished with a shot on target from left centre of the box, but the finish lacked venom and Cowe saved comfortably.

At the other end Bruce and Johnston combined for the latter to draw a save from Shearer that yielded an unrewarded corner. Although Formartine had, at least arguably, the better of possession and territorial advantage over the first twenty minutes not only did the Broch seem to carry a bit of menace on the attack, but they were succeeding in forcing the home defence further back into their own territory as time went on. With half an hour gone, Fraserburgh were beginning to get the upper hand and managed to pin the home side back enough to apply some sustained pressure to their rearguard. In the 39th minute, they had the ball in the net after a break down the right by West who slung the ball over to the other side of the area for Bruce to rattle the ball into the net only to be ruled off side.

Fraserburgh seemed aggrieved and Formartine relieved by the decision but consistent with the run of play at the time they got their noses in front two minutes later with a goal that appeared to many to have been more blatantly off-side than the one that had been previously denied them. Perhaps it was some sort of atonement but the goal stood. It came as result of a break down the flank and the ball being played in by Barbour to Davidson who had advanced down the inside left channel, and being a good yard or more in advance of the defence when the pass was made had time and space to place the ball comfortably beyond the reach of Shearer’s grasping left hand. Formartine were unable to restore their fortunes before the interval.

The second half began in a more open end to end pattern of play where midfielders dominated. There were relatively few significant chances created despite the pace at which the game was played. Initially the better of those that were developed came Fraserburgh’s way. A jinking run towards the box by Bruce was halted illegally a couple of yards shy of the 18 yard line and Johnston’s curling dipping free kick beat the wall before crashing off the right upright near its junction with the bar.
Formartine brought their subs on earlier than usual – Duguid and McKay replacing Madle and Clark in the 61st minute. This was enough to bring a period of slight dominance to the homesters and within a minute McKay found himself with an open goal but his finish was uncharacteristically wide of target.

However Formartine were making more likely looking attacks. Duguid and Napier combined with a couple of quick slick overlaps down the right one of which ended with a creditable shot from the latter that made Cowe work for his keep Formartine now looked like they deserved and would get at least an equaliser. This came in the 75th minute when McKay cunningly chipped an over the top ball, struck and timed to perfection that found Cammy Keith in space, on side and on form to clip the ball home from close range. This work of art was the highlight of the game.

Far from settling to play out the one all draw, both sides went looking for a winner but were so evenly matched that they cancelled each other out. The draw was about right and it certainly wasn’t typical end of season stuff.

Match report by Colin Keenan



Photography by Ian Rennie

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