Formartine United1–2Huntly

Dog bites postman is hardly newsworthy but postman bites dog certainly is. Had Formartine lost 2-1 to Brora and gone on to beat Huntly 5-0, little excitement would be generated – many people would expect that to be the natural order of things. This result confounds that natural order quite significantly. It was a game where Formartine dominated possession and spent much more of it in Huntly territory than their own but came away with a defeat that really sets title aspirations, revived by Saturdays victory at Dudgeon Park, right back on their heels. There was little really wrong with their performance: they were by and large the better side but fortune favoured the visitors who at times rode their luck like a winner.

By and large the pattern was one of long periods of Formartine pressure punctuated by quick, slick breakaways by Huntly that twice led to goals – one in each half - by former United striker, Michael Ewen. The extent to which the visitors merited their victory rests solely on the fact that they had a game plan which looked very like it one that prioritised avoiding defeat and relied on the wiles of Lady Luck for anything beyond that and the plan worked out for them – probably beyond their expectations.

The pattern was set from the start as United began at their customary high tempo and looked to be calling most of the shots from the outset. Within 5 minutes and after showing their attacking credentials down each flank: first on the left where full back Smith set up Barbour with a half chance from a tight angle on the left (the shot rebounded off a defender to safety) then on the right where the other wing back, Michie got the ball into Burnett in the box where the midfielder was crowded out before he could get his shot away, United won a free kick twenty yards out and just left of centre. Lawsons effort was on target but his delicate chip over the wall was easy enough meat for keeper Reid who held it comfortably.

The pressure continued and in the 12th minute a ferocious 30 yard low drive by MacPhee tested Reid to the limit. He got down smartly to make the save but was unable to hold the ball and just in the nick of time blocked it again at the feet of Barbour who was in on the rebound in a trice. In the 16th minute Huntly nicked a goal: after a period of seige to their goalmouth they got the ball forward – a dash down the right flank by Napier (another former Formartine player) had United back pedalling furiously. The ball was played into EWEN who managed to sneak in with it between Crawford and Henry before confidently knocking it past MacDonald from about fifteen yards out. Against the run of play, but it gave a confidence boost to the visitors who went on for the next fifteen minutes or so to press United harder than they had in midfield. They did not look like scoring again and United still had more possession but during this period Formartine huffed and puffed a bit and did little to trouble the keeper. During this stage the game got as near to end to end as it ever got.

It was not to last though and United got themselves back on the front foot by the half hour mark and began to threaten more visibly. Within another five minutes their pressure was both sustained and increasingly acute. A flashing drive by Barbour fizzed past Reids left upright and another by Rodger looked initially net bound before deflecting off Murisons knee. In the 40th minute just after it looked as if Huntly had gained some respite from the onslaught a clearance was recycled just inside United territory by Henry and Crawford and knocked into the area just short of the 18 yard line. BURNETT was onto it but found the keeper bearing down on him. He just beat him to the ball enough to prod it goalward and saw it trickle its way towards the inside of the back post. Following up tae mak siccar he blasted it into the roof of the net but the ball had probably just crossed the goal line before he reached it. Not the bonniest goal he will ever score but it put United back on level terms in time for the tea break.

The second half went, at least initially, to the same pattern as the first: United hammered away, Huntly sat deep with often eight or more behind the ball and soaked up the pressure while keeping a weather eye out for the chance of a breakaway. These, when they came, were executed at a blistering pace. Both Burnett and Napier showed a real turn of pace and at least as swift as the best United could muster. Generally United could nip them in the bud but there was always danger if they could get the ball to Ewen on the end of one. He is at his best in these situations where defenders are back pedalling. It only took one of them - in the 67th minute – to steal the game. A long ball out of defence, a break down the wing, the ball played in behind defenders for EWEN to collect and, one on one with the keeper, he slotted the ball home.

United tried everything they knew – mounted an almost incessant seige for the remaining twenty odd minutes but Huntly, packing their penalty area caused enough congestion for long enough to keep them at bay. As time went on United began to look increasingly desperate and composure in the final third, essential in the circumstances, increasingly gave way to impatient, uncoordinated hit and hope. They had the ball, they had the pressure but their desire to score and pull the fat from the fire was such that they lacked the guile and patience to do what they most needed to.

This was certainly not Uniteds best performance, but they have played worse and won and will do so again. The heavy schedule of two games per week and a number of players coming back from injury has led to a large degree of squad rotation. In these circumstances, let alone management changes, consistency has clearly been hard to attain.