Appearances & Goals To Date

Ewen MacDonald (GK)		34 apps	-
Jamie Michie		60 apps	-
Sam Robertson		1 app (debut)	-
Stuart Smith		160 apps	13 goals
Wayne Mackintosh		8 apps	1 goal
Stuart Anderson		140 apps	27 goals
Graeme Rodger		99 apps	27 goals
Archie MacPhee		8 apps	9 goals
Scott Barbour		93 apps	39 goals
Scott Ferries		38 apps	4 goals
Kieran Lawrence		9 apps	-
Calum Dingwall (sub)		119 apps	8 goals
Max Berton (sub)		38 apps	3 goals
Liam Burnett (sub)		21 apps	1 goal

Starting Lineup

Matchday Squad

First Team Debuts

Sam Robertson

(Signed August 25th, 2017)

Milestones

This win was what managerless United (under acting manager Jerry O Driscoll who has indicated his unavailability for the vacancy left by the departure of Kris Hunter) needed. The manner in which it was achieved was the outcome of a well disciplined and spirited performance in the face of the continuing injury crisis. Again selection problems with the limited number of defenders available resulted in another permutation of the back four. This time it comprised Kieran Lawrence and Jaimie Michie in the centre berths flanked by new signing Sam Robertson on the right and Stuart Smith on the left. This was a completely new, untested set up and unlikely to be able to sustain prolonged periods of pressure. Uniteds game plan accommodated this in that they sought to keep as high a defensive line as possible for as long as they could as often as they could.

Although Turriff could break with frightening pace from Myers, United were able to hold to their plan enough to earn a deserved victory at a ground where they have traditionally found points hard to gain. Stuart Smith showed from early that attack was the best form of defence and had the ability to thread dangerous curving balls through the inside left channel to find either Barbour or MacPhee. He had done this a couple of times before in the 7th minute he found Barbour who immediately took the ball past Cairns before slipping it on to MacPHEE whose ten yard drive left Main with no chance. Turriff forced a corner on the right, this was the best possible start and showed Uniteds undoubted strengths in attack; their weakness in defence however meant that the lead was a severely time limited one. With not quite their first attack of the game they made headway down the left flank and won a corner on that side. The danger looked to have been cleared before in the wet conditions a header from Miller squirted like a bar of soap in the bath from the gloves of MacDonald and BOOTH nipped in to poke the ball over the line.

The game went largely to plan for Formartine: they had the better of possession and although they could never be described as having Turriff under the cosh, they had few significantly scary moments to survive. United ramped up the pressure and for a full five minute period had Turriff well hemmed in in their own penalty area and its immediate surroundings. The pressure was intense but the area was too congested for anything slick to succeed and in the 31st minute a mighty hoof up the park by Bowden was chased down at lightning pace by Myers he got one on one with MacDonald but the keeper held his ground well and got just enough of a touch onto the ensuing shot to deflect its otherwise netbound progress for an unrewarded corner. This was cleared quickly and Uniteds lightning counter was completed by a strong direct drive by MacPHEE to restore Uniteds lead.

Turriff had neutralised the previous Foirmartine lead in 3 minutes; this time it took them half as long and in the 33rd minute, another breakaway move was almost broken up by United before a loose ball from defence was chipped over keeper MacDonald by Booth from very close range. Michie headed the ball clear but the ref decreed that it had crossed the goal line first.

Formartine started the second half with another period of sustained pressure but again found themselves unable to convert the territorial advantage into goals. Decent shots by Rodger, Barbour and MacPhee brought good saves by Main but as time went on the pressure waned. From the hour mark for the next fifteen minutes or thereby Turriff had their best phase of the game and pushed Formartine back into their own backyard. Uniteds response was to reinforce their makeshift back four with midfielders and Mackintosh, Anderson and at times Rodger operating as backs to the wall defenders. Formartine were now (to an extent) the counter attacking side, but they did it well. Their counters all seemed to have a good shape about them and generally succeeded to the extent of yielding shots on target. They still looked the more dangerous side. Turriff pressure was developing very little to trouble MacDonald in the Formartine goal and the visitors began again to gain the upper hand.

Formartine attacks were decently structured affairs and frequent enough to make another goal a decent probability. It came from a sweeping move that began down the inside left route and completed by a well judged Ferries cross to the head of MACKINTOSH who produced an absolutely vicious 15 yard header that screamed past the outstretched arms of Main and into the net in the 72nd minute.

Turriff were now chasing the game and leaving gaps at the back as they pressed rather desperately for an equaliser. Within 7 minutes it was effectively all over for them. A period of pressure on the United rearguard was broken by the swift riposte of a long ball from the back up to BARBOUR who bore down on keeper Main who managed to jockey him a bit to the left but from a tightish angle the forward still found enough of a gap through which rifle the ball into the back of the net. There was no way back for Turra after that and United quite confidently ran down the clock for the remaining ten minutes.

Match report by Colin Keenan



Photography by Ian Rennie