“The best laid schemes of mice and men gang aft agley” said Burns and the rather less poetic Kris Hunter, manager of Formartine United, will reflect ruefully on the fate thus far of his carefully laid plans for a real tilt at the title in the coming season. With Craig McKeown who missed the better part of last season through injury, returning to reclaim both his customary berth at the heart of the back four and the captain’s arm band, it was like having the addition of a new top level player to the squad. Add to that the close season signing from Nairn, of the remarkably prolific goal scorer, Conor Gethins and Formartine hopes for season 2016/17 looked set fair.

30 minutes or so into the first pre-season game – at home to Peterhead - McKeown went down in a heap on the far touch line and was stretchered off, his face contorted with pain and the ominous prospect of a repeat of the injury that put him out of the game for months cast a long shadow over North Lodge Park. Although there has been no official statement about the nature and extent of the injury, the players mother said that Craig himself believed that he’d suffered a recurrence of last season’s injury.

In the circumstances, the course and outcome of the game itself fade into insignificance. Peterhead won it comfortably by 6 goals to 1. Scoring 3 in each half, the Scottish League side were in control more or less throughout. They opened the scoring through RILEY when he was set up by a cunning wee through ball from Ferry in the 10th minute. The same player completed his double 12 minutes later with a controlled drive from 15 yards. Wing back STEVENSON, who had had a hand in the build up for the second goal, grabbed the third and first of his personal hat trick in the 36th minute; and that completed the interval score line. Formartine adjusted to the loss of McKeown by introducing Gauld to the strike force and withdrawing their top scorer of last season, Garry Wood to cover McKeown’s role in the back 4. The consequence of that enforced re-arrangement was that the strike force then comprised two players each of whom was barely bigger than a bookie’s biro. They were fast, tricky and worked hard but clearly posed only a very limited aerial threat.

It was almost inevitable that McALLISTER would get his name on the score sheet which he did with a simple finish two minutes after the resumption, but United were having a decent enough spell then, and after pinning Peterhead back into their own territory with repeated waves of attack, eventually got a face saving goal with a powerful headed finish by former Peterhead defender Stuart SMITH.
Jamie STEVENSON completed his hat trick rather spectacularly with two goals in a minute between the 78/79th of the match. By then, the competitive function had long been replaced by the developmental one and each side made myriad substitutions for a range of reasons not all of which were tactical but still consistent with the purpose of a pre- season friendly and gave experience to youngsters.

Two other notable returnees from injury for United were centre back Scott Henry and tigerish ball winner McVitie. Both not only came through unscathed but also showed remarkably good form, particularly given their protracted periods of inaction.

Match report by Colin Keenan



Photography by Ian Rennie

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