Appearances & Goals To Date

Ewen MacDonald (GK)		41 apps	-
Craig McKeown		67 apps	13 goals
Johnny Crawford		71 apps	3 goals
Scott Henry		24 apps	1 goal
Stuart Smith		170 apps	14 goals
Paul Lawson		61 apps	18 goals
Graeme Rodger		109 apps	32 goals
Scott Barbour		103 apps	47 goals
Liam Burnett		30 apps	3 goals
Kieran Lawrence		18 apps	1 goal
Garry Wood		79 apps	42 goals
Jamie Michie (sub)		67 apps	-
Archie MacPhee (sub)		18 apps	18 goals
Scott Ferries (sub)		48 apps	5 goals

Starting Lineup

Matchday Squad

First Team Debuts

Milestones

It is on mid week nights in games against less fancied teams that championship aspirations often perish. On the face of it, this looked well like it could be one of them. The end of Uniteds long-standing injury problem appears to be over but that in itself posed a bit of a managerial headache. With Crawford, Henry, McKeown and Wood all now fit to resume their fight for top team starting places and a cup final and a third round Scottish cup tie in the offing it is clear that all players should be given the chance to earn a place in them. That was the context in which the above four players started in place of Stuart Anderson, Jevan Anderson, Scott Ferries and Archie MacPhee all of whom had contributed significantly to Saturdays rout of East Stirlingshire. This was a radically different United side and the obvious danger was that as all the returning players had been out for prolonged periods, they would be rusty and to varying degrees that appeared to be the case.

Rothes are no push overs and this season are currently in the top half of the table with some notable victories already achieved. They were, especially in the early part of the game, able to exploit the weakness which showed in the United rearguard. McKeown and Crawford have seldom if ever played in the adjacent relationship of right back and centre back with each other and however capable a player each of them is, the combination needed more time to gel than an attack minded Rothes side was prepared to give them. They were quick on the break and after fairly sustained pressure from United had been soaked up, they broke out in the 12th minute. DUNCAN, on the end of a longish through ball from J. Fraser faced Crawford and McKeown near the left corner of the box. The slightest indecision about who was to tackle and who was to cover was enough to let the tricky forward between them with the goal at his mercy. He nipped through the gap and pinged the ball past MacDonald for the opener from about 12 yards out.

A pattern of United pinning the home side down in their own final third with Rothes making the odd speedy counter was emerging. United were pressing hard and equalised in less than 10 minutes. It was consistent with the balance of play at the time and came in the wake of balls hammered goalwards by Rodger, Barbour and Lawson all of which were blocked in the thicket of defenders in the 6 yard area and a clear header at goal with only the keeper to beat that went just high and wide by Henry. They went even closer when a twenty yard drive from Rodger thumped off McConnachies left up right.

Barbour having been picked out by Lawson at the other side of the pitch and thirty yards behind him broke into the left side of the area and despite being jockeyed into a place near the bye line managed to get in a fierce, low, angled drive that had beaten the keeper but may or may not have ended on the business side of the upright before Maleys desperate attempt at clearance aided its final progress into the net. Maybe an O.G. but on the basis that it looked net bound anyway the charitable decision would be to award it to BARBOUR.

The quick riposte should have settled United who certainly continued to dominate teritorially and had the better of possession but the old ferrous oxide at the back was to appear again after another breakaway. This time the ball was played centre to left into the path of DAVIDSON in the inside left channel. He stood on no ceremony and whipped the ball behind Crawford and McKeown and into the net from twenty yards out and again United were chasing the game.

However chase it they did and resuming their not inconsiderable onslaught on the home defence got fair reward for the persistence of their pressure when Kierran LAWRENCE levelled ten minutes before the interval. Picking up a feed from Barbour to his left, the midfielder burst forward to get one on one with keeper McConnachie before leaving him with no chance by cooly slotting the ball into the net over the keeper from no more than ten yards out.

Having equalised a second time Formartines overall superiority began slowly to pull them ahead of their opponents whose breakaways were less frequent and more simply contained as time went on. This was due in no small measure to the rust of the returning players being shed. By the time the second half began, United were looking more like the well oiled machine that they often are: McKeown and Crawford not only seemed to develop a reasonable understanding but the latter, warming to his sojurn in the right back (as opposed to his normal centre half) role made increasingly productive forays down the flank. In the 50th minute he broke almost the whole length of McKessack Parks right touchline before skinning Rennie and drilling the ball low and hard across the box where lurked WOOD. Revelling in his return to the striking berth, the big forward shimmied just enough to ease himself far enough away from Milne and rattle the ball into the net just inside the right stick.

United were pretty well in control by now and moving the ball about with pace and precision in and around the home box. Another goal was definitely on the cards and although it was a clear on goal by RENNIE who turned the ball into his own net away from his keeper it was the result of prolonged pressure. In the end, a piece of slick interchange by Barbour and Lawrence ended with a ball from the former, directed towards the latter being diverted netwards by the unfortunate defender in the 61st minute.

Ten minutes later a late (ish) rearward (ish)] tackle by Lawrence on Duncan in the box produced a penalty that DAVIDSON competently home, sinking the ball to the right of MacDonald who had dived left.

Although the margin was of only a single goal United never looked remotely like conceeding another and sustaining pressure were unfortunate not to have restored their two goal margin which would have been a better reflection of the margin of difference between the teams over the game as a whole.

Match report by Colin Keenan