Appearances & Goals To Date

Andy Shearer (GK)		54 apps	-
Graham Hay		29 apps	6 goals
Stephen Jeffrey		39 apps	1 goal
Stuart Smith		57 apps	1 goal
Stuart Anderson		42 apps	7 goals
Callum Bagshaw		50 apps	8 goals
Neil McVitie		49 apps	10 goals
Gary Clark		36 apps	1 goal
Cammy Keith		57 apps	41 goals
Marek Madle		25 apps	15 goals
Paul Napier		45 apps	4 goals
Calum Dingwall (sub)		30 apps	2 goals
Hamish Munro (sub)		52 apps	2 goals
Stuart McKay (sub)		53 apps	17 goals

Starting Lineup

Matchday Squad

First Team Debuts

Milestones

Formartine may be justified in the belief that the fates seldom smile upon them when they visit Forres and will reflect on the fact that a second’s inattention during a crucial set piece in the last five minutes of play cost them two of the three points that by and large their performance deserved. In the new dawn after the departure of erstwhile captain , McKeown to the Dudgeon up North, they have rediscovered some spirit and verve and have been playing with a level of enthusiasm that had been absent for too long and have turned in a couple of noteworthy performances of late.

They are not, however , entirely free from deficiencies and in this game, as in the previous two against Cove and Buckie, they have played better in the first half than in the second. It does not seem to be a fitness (or lack of it) issue as the work-rate of individual players does not really seem to slacken off but nevertheless some of the flair and fluency fades and opponents prosper rather better in the second period than in the first. It is not a case of United capitulating enough to let opponents get on top, it’s more a case of their losing a bit of bite later in the game. In this one it cost them.

Formartine started this game well, impressively even. With the same starting eleven that had seen off Cove and Buckie it didn’t take them long to impose their will and style on their hosts. Just as a squad of skirling women were being piped into the stand for Ladies’ Day, Madle made off at pace down the right and whipped the ball across the box to find Napier who had outpaced his marker to unleash a vicious dipping ball that flew just the wrong side of the junction of upright and crossbar to the keeper’s right. This was a move played out with pace and conviction. A pattern was being established where Formartine could squeeze Forres in their own territory for a minute or two at a time and were usually able to complete such spells with a ball into the goalmouth. Forres relied on breakaways which they executed with some pace and a degree of menace such as when Lee Fraser managed to break through the inside right channel before being manouevred by Hay to a position out near the touch line where he was dispossessed.

Formartine were clearly in the driving seat and an early goal was fully consistent with their dominance. It came from a break through the inside right channel where McVitie had he legs on Paul Smith and overtook him to reach a bull slung long and wide from defence. Having cleared the defender he drilled the ball across the box into the path of Cammy Keith who had timed his run past Allan and Grant to get earn a personal appointment with the keeper, From about twelve yards range, slightly left of centre, he confidently clipped the ball beyond the custodian’s reach. Forres players and fans howled for offside but as both McVitie and Keith were behind their respective markers when the ball was played to them, the protestations fell on deaf ears.

Formartine were on top and in front and the expectation was that they would be able to press on from that position to put the game beyond Forres’ reach. It looked like this would happen as the pattern of sustained Formartine pressure interspersed with decent but effectively neutralised breaks from Forres continued. Madle was a thorn in the flesh of the home defence who after Grant was booked after his nth foul on the forward, decided to share responsibility for kicking the barnstorming Czech. Smith, Allan, McPherson and Moore all had a go at incapacitating him but were clever enough to make their marks on him just gently enough to resist anything more than conceding free kicks.

In a way, the fact that Formartine were unable to convert any of these to goals meant that this was working marginally to Forres’ advantage. It certainly kept the prolific striker off the score sheet for the first time in long enough and with Bagshaw who had of late been running a near goal a game average, having a bit of an off target day, Formartine were unable to capitalise on their early lead.

As the half progressed and despite Formartine holding the lions’ share of possession and definite territorial advantage, the prospect of something developing from a home breakaway was significant. Lee Fraser is big fast and has a good scoring record. Jeffrey and Hay had to be alert but were able to contain his rampaging efforts. One in the 31st minute needed the efforts of both simultaneously (or close to it) to block his progress to a shooting position.

A couple of minutes later a flash of end to end stuff came near to producing a goal at either end, Archibald fed McGovern along the edge of the box before the latters’ fierce low drive was turned round his left upright by Shearer. The resulting corner was quickly cleared up the park and Madle burst through the centre with only Knight to beat from under 20 yards out, before just at the point of pulling the trigger, he was tripped from behind by McPherson. A free kick and a booking seemed scant recompense for denying the prolific forward his best chance of the game. Anderson chipped the free diagonally into an area in front of the left post and Bagshaw did well to get a header on the ball, but the keeper was close enough to make a fairly comfortable save. The game continued at full throttle until the interval but the score remained the same.

The second half began with Formartine withdrawing McVitie, who had developed a hamstring problem, and replacing him with Munro. This was a fairly straightforward like for like substitution apart from the fact that as a result of suspension for the Buckie game after the 7 week weather break and being unable to force his way back into the starting eleven of a team that was clearly on form, he was well short on match practice. He did well enough and got better with time but it would be fair to say that he has been sharper. It is hard to say whether this enforced change was significant but Forres seemed to do better in the second half than the first. This can hardly be down to one change and reflects a pattern that has been apparent in the previous games.

Initially Formartine were able to continue their pressure and forced 4 or 5 unrewarded corners over the first fifteen minutes. Again Forres were pinned back. However as time progressed it was clear that Forres were not particularly uncomfortable there and Formartine had less penetration than formerly. The game continued in this vein with neither keeper being particularly exercised. The pace was still high and tackles were not for the faint hearted. A shot from distance by Kutsishvilli was barely an inch too high but defences were more or less on top. A slick one- two and a cheeky back heel by Keith to Madle set up the latter for a shot from close range but the keeper was already close enough to the forward to make the block.

It began to look as if there would be no more scoring or that if a goal did come it would be the result of a mistake. This came in the 85th minute after a home corner on the left when Shearer had done well to block an angled drive from Fraser at the near post. There then followed Formartine’s only real defensive mistake of the game when the corner struck in -swinging to the back post found McPherson alone and unmarked with as much time and space as Dr Who to head home the equaliser.

This energised Forres and Formartine responded gamely seeking to restore their lead but stalemate ensued for the remaining 5 minutes and Forres retrieved a point which for most of the game had looked beyond them.

Match report by Colin Keenan