Appearances & Goals To Date

Kevin Main (GK)		3 apps	-
Jevan Anderson		28 apps	1 goal
Craig McKeown		85 apps	17 goals
Johnny Crawford		91 apps	5 goals
Stuart Smith		187 apps	17 goals
Stuart Anderson		161 apps	28 goals
Graeme Rodger		130 apps	43 goals
Wayne Mackintosh		29 apps	4 goals
Archie MacPhee		37 apps	31 goals
Scott Barbour		122 apps	58 goals
Garry Wood		97 apps	51 goals
Jamie Michie (sub)		80 apps	-
Scott Ferries (sub)		59 apps	7 goals

Starting Lineup

Matchday Squad

First Team Debuts

Milestones

Playing a cup tie at home, known as home advantage, inevitably favours the home side – hence the use of the word advantage. However there is a big difference for the away side between doing so on a Saturday afternoon and having to surmount all the attendant difficulties of players getting off work and/or travel after working that playing a key cup semi final on a Tuesday evening and undertaking a three hundred mile round trip to do it entails. No one will convince the Formartine faithful that the timing and location of this Breedon Aggregates Cup game did not constitute a significant advantage to Brora.

That said, there is nothing like a wee chip of perceived injustice to fire up the fighting spirit of this squad of battlers that Paul Lawson and Russell Anderson have shaped United into. It was a hard fought game but one where United got their noses in front early doors and kept them there despite having to overcome periods of intense pressure, until the final whistle. They now face Fraserburgh in the final at Rothes on the last day of the month.

Each side was determined to get the upper hand as early as possible and the game began at a rip-roaring pace. Brora had the better of territory and possession over the first couple of minutes and flooded forward into United territory. An attempted break through centre and inside left channels by Sutherland and Brindle was halted by the combined efforts of Jevan Anderson and McKeown although the former was rather harshly booked for a perceived jersey pull on Brindle. The real significance of this was as a precursor of a refereeing display characterised by a number of bizarre decisions for and against both sides where the only consistent factor appeared to be a self-indulgent need for attention on behalf of an official who seemed to rate his own importance above that of the occasion.

The Formartine defence contained and fairly soon reversed the opening flurry by the home side and made their own incursions into hostile territory. Archie MacPhee was beginning to pull some strings round the edge of the Brora box and Barbour was beginning to stretch them on the left. In the seventh minute they combined for the latter to thread a ball behind Duff to give Wood a half chance from about 12 yards out, but the big striker at full stretch, could not keep the ball down and it went a few feet over the top.

However, it was the start of a phase where Formartine pressed and squeezed their opponents, developing a high back line and maintaining the lions share of possession a satisfying proportion of which was conducted in Brora territory. Rodger was a bustling presence around the box and Wood rumbled up defenders and became increasingly difficult to subdue.

Barbour delivered a number of crosses into the box from wide left and in the 13th minute one such struck a defensive hand – Williamsons and denied Rodger the opportunity of a close(ish) range shot on goal. Play on was the decision but within seconds the same pair of players faced each other again and the defender yarked the midfielder to the deck for a penalty. MacPhee took the spot kick but Malin was down fast to his right to make the save. The loose ball was immediately seized upon by Formartines Rodger and Broras MACLEAN. The formers attempt to force the ball home was met by the latters attempt to hoof it clear to the side and the ball spun into the net. Much credit for this should go to Rodger, but an own goal by the latter is probably a more accurate description.

Pressure was building and midfield battles intensified. There was little love lost between the inhabitants of the two technical areas and remarks made by Russell Anderson to Ross Tokely in the 34th minute were perceived by the ref and stand side assistant to be addressed to the former and the United assistant was despatched to the stand from where he continued to offer useful tactical advice and direction to his players. United were bossing things by now and a sneaky low hard cross over the goalmouth by Barbour was only inches away from being diverted into the net by the boot of the advancing MacPhee. Barbour went even closer in next minute when a hard driven diagonal shot right to left fizzed inches past Malins right upright.

This was Uniteds most dominant period of the game and five minutes later they went further ahead following a free kick by Stewart Anderson taken around forty yards out and a bit left of centre. It reached a melee of players in the 6 yard area and Archie MacPHEE, atoning perfectly for the earlier penalty miss, skelped the ball home.

This energised Brora enough for them to reverse their back foot position for a while and they made furious attempts to pull the fat out of the fire. It was enough to end this spell of United dominance and after a bit of slugging it out in midfield they put together a break down the right where full back Ross advanced down the flank to deliver a neatly judged cross straight to the head of BRINDLE whose close range header flew well beyond the reach of Main. They attempted to keep the momentum until the interval but United with Mackintosh very industriously breaking up play in the middle were never allowed the space in which to develop a sustained attack.

After the interval, United were back on the front foot and went straight for the Brora goal when a Barbour cross was headed hard goalward by Rodger only to be denied by a desperate full length save by Malin to tip the ball away to safety. United kept the pressure on and a long through ball by Stuart Anderson in the 50th minute set Barbour free to run with it into the box. A couple of yards into it, pursued by Williamson he stumbled and fell. Whether or not this was a slip, or the result of a tackle either legal or illegal is hard to determine but the ref saw it as a penalty. A bit of a double edged sword this for United who (counting one at Nairn by Barbour on Saturday), had missed two penalties in a row. McKeown showed character and leadership by stepping up to the mark and hammering the ball home. Some say that Malin got a hand to it but evidence suggests otherwise as the hand was still attached to the wrist after the goal.

Brora looking defeat squarely in the face threw caution to the wind and restructured to a three at the back formation and 15 minutes later managed to get the sniff of a dramatic come back when SUTHERLAND suckered Main at his near post to sneak the ball under him for 3-2. This really ratcheted up the pressure on Formartine. Brora advanced every one – even keeper Malin at times - as far forward as they dared and attempted seige tactics on United. Michie replaced the injured Crawford in a like for like right back swap and the fresh legs of Ferries replaced the tiring ones of Mackintosh in midfield Brora managed more pressure than penetration and although Brindle and Mackay brought good saves from MAIN, United were well organised at the back , able to hold the ball in wide areas at times and successfully resist whatever Brora had to give.

They had overcome the handicaps of timing, location and distance and thoroughly deserved this victory which means this season they have beaten Brora three times overall, twice at Dudgeon Park.

Match report by Colin Keenan