Appearances & Goals To Date

Andy Shearer (GK)		66 apps	-
Craig McKeown		54 apps	10 goals
Jamie Michie		3 apps	-
Johnny Crawford		4 apps	-
Stuart Smith		72 apps	2 goals
Stuart Anderson		57 apps	10 goals
Graeme Rodger		4 apps	2 goals
Paul Lawson		4 apps	1 goal
Scott Barbour		4 apps	-
Cammy Keith		70 apps	49 goals
Garry Wood		4 apps	2 goals

Starting Lineup

Matchday Squad

First Team Debuts

Milestones

A Saturday night bus journey from central Aberdeenshire to Wick is hardly a bunch of fun but to make it on the back of a defeat must be little short of some sort of Purgatory. Because Wick know that better than anyone else, they always put up the mother and father of all battles to avoid the latter. Having nicked a first half lead which was perhaps just a touch against the run of play, they must have been more than a little surprised to find Formartine beating them at their own game in the second half to consign them to the journey they dread.

United still lacked midfield rotweiller McVitie and with both keeper’s suspended after seeing red at Harlaw the previous week, brought back Andy Shearer from his recent career break while Wick, with a restricted palette of players from which to select were without both MacAdie and Gereuzel and listed only four substitutes [two of whom were trialists]. However they managed to get quickly into their game and corralled United into their own territory for the first couple of minutes. The pressure was there but it was more of a territorial irritation than a threat to the Formartine goal and before 5 minutes had gone Formartine were poking and prodding at the other end. Full backs Michie and Smith pushed on in turn down the flanks and overlapping with Rodger and Barbour gradually turned up the heat on the visiting defence of two Stevens, Farquhar and Mackay.

Although Wick particularly in the form of Sam MacKay could break at pace and force prompt rearguard action from the home side, the pattern of a fairly end to end affair was being set. End to end though it may have been it looked like Formartine were just that bit more direct and could sustain attacks for slightly longer at a time than the visitors. The bustling Wood and Cammy Keith were the spearheads of an attack that was fairly well provided for by Anderson and Lawson. The first evidence of Formartine threat came in the 7th minute with a sweeping move taking in the whole width and much of the length of the park. McKeown fed Lawson who picked out Barbour scampering down the left. The wide man continued his run before whipping the ball cross field via Anderson to Michie in a bit of space 20 odd yards out near the right corner of the box. His thumping drive warmed the paws of McCarthy who got hold of the ball after parrying it downwards to take the sting from it: the signs were there that Formartine had some fire power and were keen to deploy it.

A dangerous looking break through the centre by MacKay took him to about twenty five yards out with only McKeown to his right between him and the keeper was superbly negated by a perfectly judged and thumpingly powerful tackle from the big defender. At the other end, a free about twelve yards in from the by line but wide right was swung into the mix beyond the back stick by Lawson before in the second phase of the move, left back Smith forced his way into the melee to get off a fiery header that smacked off the crossbar before being booted to safety. The Formartine pressure was definitely more intense than Wick’s at this stage.

For all that they were just shading things in terms of territory, possession and attempts on goal – Wick had yet to muster a shot on target, there was sense that the fates were not shining on Formartine and the Wick defence, despite living a charmed life at times knew how to weather the storm. Graeme Rodger was consistently getting away from whoever tried to mark him and as well as producing a series of balls into the box that tormented defenders. He had a powerful hoof on him too. A 33rd minute angled drive scorched only inches past McCarthy’s left upright and the Formartine dominance persisted.

Formartine were able at times to promote McKeown from central defence to rampage about in the Wick box usually from set pieces. He caused several problems but Wick still held firm. 38 minutes in and a bullet of a free kick by Lawson from not far short of thirty yard range smacked off the Wick cross bar and rebounded to safety. It is difficult to sustain belief in the face of persistent misfortune and for all that Formartine worked away there was sense that their own confidence that they could score was beginning ever so slightly to fade, and Wick growing in confidence, began to look just a bitty sharper and confident as they managed to sustain their attacks for longer at a time. Against the run of play at the time and with their first shot on target of the game, Wick went ahead. A break down the left orchestrated initially by Allan and Harrison set the platform for a mini siege on the Formartine area. The ball was played long to the back post area before being clipped back to the other post by Pickles where HARRISON managed to block the advance of the keeper and slip it into the net from close range. An opening goal three minutes before the interval is some tonic.

This fairly bucked up Academy and a minute later the same Harrison let fly with a thirty yarder that flew past Shearer’s right upright. Formartine, stung, sought retaliation and again came agonisingly close as keeper McCarthy picked the ball off Wood’s head as he was connecting with an inch perfect Barbour cross from his left. Wick retained their lead until half time.
The interval clearly provided the opportunity for manager Hunter to give some soft words of sympathy and gentle encouragement to his charges and they came out firing on all cylinders. From the kick off they laid siege to the Wick back line and hammered away at them. Shots came in from all angles and the ball flew back and forth across the goal mouth as the blitzkrieg continued. It took only three minutes of this to turn the game finally and irrevocably Formartine’s way. ANDERSON got the ball into the net at the second time of asking. During the firefight around the goal mouth Ando made his contribution a few yards beyond the right upright and a few yards forward of goal. Latching onto a ball that emerged from a ruck of players he drove it goalwards only to find it rebounding back to him from some part of some defender’s anatomy. Cool as ever, he saw the chink through which he quickly and very accurately delivered the ball into the net.

Wick were well on the back foot and there they stayed for almost all of the remaining 42 minutes. They were prepared to play the counter-puncher’s game and set up to weather the Formartine storm. They are well versed in the art of holding out with 8 or more behind the ball as they do when under pressure from teams playing down the precipitous Harmsworth Brae at them at home and did a fair old job of frustrating a very determined looking Formartine. Shots rained in from every angle and a fully occupied McCarthy went on to produce a stellar performance in keeping Formartine at bay.

A sneaky break through the left and centre saw MacKay get clear in on Shearer who was off his line in a flash to make a brave diving save at the forward’s feet. The siege resumed but this Wick side have been together a long time and know how to defend in depth and for long periods. They also rode their luck like it was bucking bronco attacked by a midgie swarm. Formartine tried everything and were playing with a superb tempo and lots of variety. A forty plus yard diagonal pass by Lawson to Michie was inch perfect and set up an incisive attack from the right flank that went through a couple of phases before ending with an outstanding save by McCarthy from Anderson.

Rodger has been hugely influential since arriving from Vale and did the necessary to break the deadlock in the 77th minute with a lethal wee burst in from the right before clipping the ball past the outstretched hand of the finally defeated keeper. This forced Wick to come out of their shell and chase the game, a situation that suited Formartine more than them. From that point, Formartine were able to play much more in midfield again and despite a lot of effort from Academy, were by and large able to retain possession, pick and choose when to attack and when to defend until they started to run the clock down by holding the ball up in wide areas for the last few minutes, finishing in more comfortable control than the score-line suggests.

Match report by Colin Keenan



Photography by Ian Rennie

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