Appearances & Goals To Date

Kevin Main (GK)		11 apps	-
Jevan Anderson		37 apps	1 goal
Johnny Crawford		96 apps	5 goals
Stuart Smith		194 apps	18 goals
Wayne Mackintosh		37 apps	6 goals
Graeme Rodger		138 apps	48 goals
Andrew Greig		18 apps	7 goals
Archie MacPhee		43 apps	33 goals
Scott Barbour		131 apps	68 goals
Conor Gethins		69 apps	28 goals
Garry Wood		102 apps	53 goals

Starting Lineup

Matchday Squad

First Team Debuts

Milestones

This victory ensured that Formartine completed the most successful season in their 72 year history by finishing in second position in the SHFL and as holders of both the Aberdeenshire and Highland League Cups. Since the present management of Paul Lawson and Russell Anderson took over in late October the squad has quickly developed a coherence and fighting spirit that has since early this year seen the team prevail in cup and league competition to the point that this game represented their 16th win on the trot and crucial to local bragging rights, places them ahead of rivals Inverurie Locos

The rivalry between United and Locos extends back into the days when both were playing in the junior leagues and even then, there was little love lost between them. Locos, rather ham-fisted attempts to block Uniteds progress into SHFL are still remembered at North Lodge and the consequence of this particular victory has an added piquancy because prior to this win, Locos were sitting in second place in the table, their programme complete while United needed four successive wins to pip them by one point. The new North Lodge fighting spirit ensured that they did just that. Any expectation that their rivals might offer some congratulations came to naught – not a text or a tweet; simply silence – likely to be remembered at North Lodge as the Silence of the Bams.

Wick started with a fairly strong starting eleven but a severely depleted squad and listed only two subs. United were also constrained in selection by the absence of two highly influential players in Craig McKeown and Stuart Anderson. This meant some fairly drastic re-ordering of personnel and positions. Most noticeable was the deployment of centre forward Garry Wood at centre back and the high scoring midfielder Archie MacPhee from an attacking midfield role to a place just forward of the back four. Connor Gethins took Woods place up front and Andersons armband as captain for the day.

Formartine were the first to show as Crawford advancing from deep on the right exchanged passes with Mackintosh and continued to the outskirts of the visitors box and unloaded a fierce dipping shot that dipped only fractionally too late as it went over. Wick were more of a physical presence than they usually are and little more than 10 minutes in, Ross Allan was booked for a rather agricultural challenge on Barbour. United were just shading things in terms of territory and possession but there was little in it.

In the 19th minute some over-physical defending by Wick in their attempts to shackle the advance of Rodger through the inside left channel, yielded a free kick for United about 30 yards out. Gethins shot took out the wall perfectly but keeper McCarthy got to it just inside his right upright to make the save.

Wick were a canny lot though and could break with pace and precision and although they failed mostly to penetrate the United box, often did enough around the margins of it to offer some threat. A drive by Macadie after a cheeky wee feed from Davy Allan brought out a swift diving save to take the ball cleanly just inside his right upright by Main in the 22nd minute. Henry, D.Allan and Macadie were quick and nippy enough to demand full pace and full stretch challenges from each of the Formartine back four and although this breakaway pressure arose from time to time it did not really match that at the other end. Where Gethins went very close twice within five minutes: initially with a cheeky disguised low drive through a ruck of players that went inches past the keepers right upright and another low raking diagonal right to left fifteen yarder that beat the keeper only to fly a hairsbreadth wide of the back stick in the 24th minute.

3 minutes later, in the aftermath of some more United pressure in the final third at the visiting end, Wick had their best breakaway of the game thus far. A longish goal kick was played forward to Henry who held it up long enough to give himself some options. The one he chose was to slip it right to Anderson who had the space to ping the ball into the box which was by then well populated. In the battle between forwards and defenders: D.Allan trying to make space for himself by bumping Wood out of the way, got what he gave but then went to deck and gained a penalty for his pains. Anderson took the spot kick and blasted it low and right of centre. Main made the save but did not hold the ball and Anderson, in for the rebound hammered the ball back on a track towards the inside of Mains left upright and amazingly the keeper got to that one too and turned it away before it was eventually cleared up the park.

That was a reminder of the fragility of Formartines dreams and they continued to exert as much pressure as the doughty Wickers would allow. It was tight more than pretty and it was going to need something a bit special to break down a team that had the nous to defend all over the park and the nose to sniff a good breakaway possibility. What they did not have was Graeme RODGER. In 40th minute he took things by the scruff of the neck and made a run from not far beyond halfway, down the inside right route, saw off a tackle from Farquhar drove on between and beyond another couple of defenders to the edge of the box from where he unleashed a thunderous shot that flew past the left hand of the keeper and landed in the top corner of the net. What a goal and what a time to get it. United tails up continued to press until the interval.

Wick were far from beaten and made a fair push at the start of the second half. It was not that United were trying to sit things out on a one goal lead it was more that Wick were up for finishing a season of mixed results on a bit of a high – if they could. Luck was not running Uniteds way either. Stuart Smith was withdrawn 4 minutes into the second period with an injury to his left ankle and replaced by Calum Dingwall. This meant that only Crawford and young Jevan Anderson of the normal back 4 remained. However Dingwall put in a superb shift for the 41 minutes he was there and Crawford took on leadership and organisational responsibilities to ensure the back door remained as lockfast as it could be.

It looked like being enough to sit out the precarious one goal lead, if it came down to that but United were minded to acquire a bit more insurance if they could. After Main tipped over a fierce drive by Hughes it was clear that Wick carried real menace at times. Both Gethins and Greig had good fifteen yardish chances to double the lead but both shots went left of target.

Formartine had, by and large the better of midfield where the astonishing work rate and ball winning skills of Mackintosh were instrumental in ensuring that Wick service through to their front pair was irregular and infrequent. That said, Wick set out a line of five or six about thirty five yards out from their goal that was difficult to penetrate.

Things went on this tightly balanced way until the 80th minute when Formartine were rocked right back on their heels when Jevan Anderson was given a second yellow for an off the ball tug at the jersey of D.Allan. A minute later Wick equalised: a wave of pressure before United could rearrange to manage their deficiency did it for them and on their right side Allan Hughes had a bit of space to cut in and deliver a clinical, well placed and executed shot beyond the reach of Main to equalise.

At that point the true colours of the new Formartine were displayed. Digging deep they found an extra gear from somewhere and the ten men began to dominate. Chasing down everything and everyone they forced the eleven further and further back. Using a line of four across the halfway line as a base they pushed forward and began to dominate the final third. In the 86th minute after five minutes of incessant seige it was Wayne MACKINTOSH who did the business, muscling his way forward he split Manson and Farquhar to get the space to skelp the ball thunderously past the right hand of McCarthy.

The lead re-established, United retained possession enough to slow things down and worked hard enough when Wick had it to keep them at bay until the end.

Match report by Colin Keenan



Photography by Ian Rennie

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