Appearances & Goals To Date

Andy Reid (GK)		25 apps	-
Jamie Michie		15 apps	-
Calum Dingwall		56 apps	4 goals
Stuart Smith		93 apps	7 goals
Jamie Masson		14 apps	1 goal
Stuart Anderson		76 apps	17 goals
Graeme Rodger		26 apps	9 goals
Paul Lawson		24 apps	6 goals
Scott Barbour		26 apps	12 goals
Neil Gauld		22 apps	7 goals
Garry Wood		25 apps	12 goals
Callum Bagshaw (sub)		64 apps	9 goals

Starting Lineup

Matchday Squad

First Team Debuts

Milestones

The most remarkable aspect of this relatively unremarkable game was that underdogs, Lossiemouth took the lead in the 49th second. Formartine had kicked off, pushed the ball about a bit before it was clipped out down the left by Lawson to pick out Barbour. This attacked fizzled out quickly enough for a counter down the same side to be mounted. An exchange of passes between Farquhar and Bell precipitated the former skiting down the flank to a point nearly in line with edge of the Formartine box before lurching in towards goal. Keeper Reid looked to have the angles covered but the attacking full back’s final ball rebounded off centre back Wood as he attempted to clear. This both took the pace off the ball and deflected it way beyond the reach of the keeper and into the net. Depending on your point of view, you could credit this as either an own goal by Wood or a “normal” one by the full back.

Lossie’s dream start could well have precipitated Formartine’s nightmare: they have some history of underachievement against Lossiemouth and after the previous Saturday’s cup replay defeat by Cove, really needed this game to be a confidence builder for them. Not the time to press any panic buttons but this quick fire opener inevitably offered a great dollop of optimism to the visitors and placed an additional demand on United. They coped with it well and were soon in comfortable control of midfield and firmly squeezing Lossie back into their own back yard.

Lawson and Anderson were soon dictating tempo and shape while Rodger and Masson foraged in front of them. The back four edged forward to tighten the squeeze and within a few minutes it was clear that Lossie keeper “ Mini “ McConnachie was in for a busy afternoon. He did, however, cope exceptionally well with the demands made of him [and these were regular and intense]and certainly did enough to merit any man of the match award. A dive in the tenth minute to smother a Lawson drive that fizzed through a ruck of players, a full stretch tip over the top from a cunning dipping angled drive by Anderson minutes later and it was clear that although Formartine could and would apply substantial pressure round the goal area, getting the ball into the net was not going to be easy.

Patience was needed and Formartine played a canny enough game, maintaining possession, keeping good shape and probing and prodding to find openings. Lossie were content [or were forced] to play a counter attacking game. The well organised Lossie defence, supplemented by at a minimum, Stewart, Campbell and Gordon to give at least seven behind the ball at virtually any given time and breakaways, such as there were, came suddenly with great pace and relied very heavily on ex -Formartine youngster Willie Mathers to provide them with that. They seldom, however, produced significant penetration when and where it mattered.

The pattern was clear: Formartine were in charge and it was only a matter of time before their well structured play would produce the goals it deserved. The first arrived in the 26th minute after sustained pressure all round the visitors penalty area. Barbour, Gauld and Masson all combined and produced a number of corners all taken by Lawson and each carrying enough menace to cause some panic at the back but not enough to force an equaliser until from a few yards in from the left hand corner of the box ANDERSON saw the gap and clipped the ball neatly home. Relief was palpable and the game now entered a phase where it looked like floodgates would open and in a way they did as Formartine began to run Lossie ragged for a while. They swiftly racked up three more goals over the next 17 minutes.

In the 30th minute, after a protracted and sustained siege in and around the Lossie goalmouth where McConnachie denied Gauld, Anderson, Lawson, Barbour, Rodger and Dingwall and various other goal-bound (or close to it) efforts were deflected, diverted or otherwise prevented from reaching their intended destination, the pitch of defensive desperation reached the death- wish level of Bell handing the ball away on his goal line in full view of the referee. Double jeopardy time. Bell got the red card and LAWSON the penalty. He struck the ball viciously at about throat height to the right of the keeper.

Such was the momentum that Formartine had already generated, it was as sure as God makes little apples that they were going to have a few more goals against the numerically challenged Coasters. It took five more minutes for ANDERSON to get his second. Again the pressure was intense in the lead up as the ball was pinged about round the edge of the visiting penalty area before “Ando” applied the finishing touch by driving it home from about 12 yards out.

The sense that the floodgates were open, increased as after even more sustained pressure, in the aftermath of a corner from the right and with Formartine defensive HQ established along the half way line, centre back SMITH who worked himself forward for the set piece lingered long enough to pick up the ball at the back stick and head it home across the line of the advancing keeper and into the far corner of the net to make it 4-1 two minutes before the interval.
The expectation was that the floodgates, apparently open, could not be closed again. Some half time re-arrangements including the introduction of sub McCauley gave the lie to that one as Lossie battened down the hatches for a 45 minute spell of damage limitation. This they achieved splendidly, absorbing virtually all that Formartine could throw at them. At times they rode their luck like a bucking bronco with whooping cough – for example as a beautifully flighted Lawson free kick from just shy of 30 yards out slammed off the cross bar to safety and another was just finger-tipped over the top by McConnachie or when Barbour, in one on one with the keeper found the ball bobbling as he was about to shoot and hit it awkwardly wide left. Gauld was only inches out high or wide a number of times when only a smidgen of grace from Lady Luck would have given him the rewards his industry deserved.

Lossie attacks were as rare as Mass attendance by Ibrox season ticket holders, but they were intent on damage limitation and with the odds stacked against them as severely as they were, they made a really good job of it. They had held out with 10 men for virtually 45 minutes when just before full time sub Callum Bagshaw bursting into the from box centre right brushed off tackles and manoeuvred himself into position to drill the ball home from ten or so yards out.

5-1 was a fair result – with a bit of luck for Formartine, it could have been more but Lossie gave their all in the unequal contest. It was never a dirty game – the red card was a valid one but the double jeopardy of penalty and red card is enough to spoil any game, but,” rules is rules” as they say.

Match report by Colin Keenan

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