Appearances & Goals To Date

Kevin Main (GK)		30 apps	-
Jevan Anderson		57 apps	3 goals
Johnny Crawford		117 apps	6 goals
Stuart Smith		219 apps	20 goals
Andrew Greig		43 apps	18 goals
Graeme Rodger		163 apps	57 goals
Paul Lawson		75 apps	19 goals
Archie MacPhee		67 apps	45 goals
Aaron Norris		13 apps	1 goal
Kieran Lawrence		40 apps	2 goals
Garry Wood		122 apps	63 goals
Craig McKeown (sub)		99 apps	19 goals
Conor Gethins (sub)		90 apps	38 goals
Liam Burnett (sub)		62 apps	7 goals

Starting Lineup

Matchday Squad

First Team Debuts

Milestones

This was a strange game in that almost all of the excitement was confined to two fifteen minute periods; one right at the beginning and the other at the very end. Although it is beyond any serious dispute that Formartine deserved all three of the points, they did not have it at all easy against spirited resistance from a young, energetic and very hard working side that pushed them all the way and for half an hour either side of the interval, did enough in that period to suggest that at least a share of the points was within their capabilities. Formartine supporters may well argue that on paper at least they had the stronger squad and that they were never in any serious danger of losing, but after an opening blitzkrieg where they threatened to completely overwhelm their hosts, they let Turriff back into proceedings to the extent that they were pinned back in their own half of the field for far longer than was comfortable.

Were it not for outstanding displays by both goal keepers- Hobday for Turriff and his predecessor in office, Main for United, the score line might well have been completed at 13-12.

Formartine have been caught cold in recent games and clearly approached this one determined to prevent any repetition. The game was barely two minutes old when they showed their teeth with a fierce opening snarl at the home side. The move was started deep in United territory by Crawford carrying the ball forward down the right to near the half way line before playing in Norris who clipped a nicely weighted over the top ball into the inside right channel for Wood. Chased every step of the way by Ross Anderson, the striker matched the defender's shoulder charge before offloading a fierce drive that smacked off Hobday's left up right. This signalled the start of a siege on the home goal and shots rained in on Hobday: one from a tightish angle on the left by Greig was pushed away only as far as MacPhee whose loopy header had the keeper at full stretch to claw it away from just under the junction of the bar and his right upright before he had to go smartly down to his right to grab a low pile driver from Wood. Rodger had a pop from 20 yards that rebounded to safety off the outstretched boot of Hobday.

This was a period when Turriff. try as they might, simply couldn't clear their lines and the opening goal was clearly imminent. It arrived in the 8th minute after the siege, continuing unabated, saw increased involvement from United defenders. Greig scampered past Chalmers to cross the ball left to right to the front of the box where Rodger had a pop through a clump of players but the ball rebounded into space near full back Smith whose firm left foot drive was beaten away only as far as Jevan ANDERSON, almost on the penalty spot. The centre back calmly drove the ball beyond the reach of Hobday to put Formartine deservedly ahead.

United sustained this pressure for another 5 or ten minutes and it took heroics from Hobday and his back 4 to hold the score where it was. However some chinks of light at the end of this tunnel were beginning to show for the home side. Some of these derived from variable finishing by United who, failing to hit the target regularly gave possession to their hosts when off target shots resulted in goal kicks for Turriff. They did quite well with these and Hobday was regularly finding Strachan or Cross with them. These midfielders, particularly the former, had the skills and gumption to hold the ball long enough to begin to push Formartine back now and again. Initially there were only sporadic breaks into the area in and around the visitors' box, but home striker Ewen, previously a prolific goalscorer at Formartine, is a wily old campaigner and made the best of what were still rather lean pickings. A shot on the turn in the 19th minute brought a high quality low diving save from Main to block at the base of his left upright.

Turriff were also making some headway on the left where the combination of Reid and Ironside began to ask the odd question of the visiting back four of Crawford, Smith, manager Lawson, and Jevan Anderson. By no stretch of the imagination could it be said that Turriff were bossing it, but they had weathered the storm of Formartine's opening assaults and were now asking the odd question themselves. With the pressure on their rearguard abating, Turriff were gaining increasing cuttance in midfield.

Formartine had let Turriff into a game they had initially controlled and it looked like they had made a rod for their backs when Cross on the end of a feed from Reid breaking left to right across the box was brought down by Lawson. EWEN took the resulting spot kick and struck the ball low left as Main went right. The remaining 16 minutes until half time became a fair old midfield battle with neither side being able to keep enough pressure on the other to break the deadlock.

The second half began with a bit of a push by the home side with a lot of what threat they mustered coming from Strachan. However United responded by bringing on Craig McKeown as a sub for Lawson and with this injection of height, muscle and the calm authority that comes from experience, began to regain the upper hand. The game took on a bit more of an end to end dimension but one where Formartine looked to carry more fire power up top. Wood was asking more questions at the river end than Ewen was at the Town end and Hobday was having to work harder and harder to keep his side on level terms. Turriff breaks were quick and well organised but with the exception of a couple of occasions when Ewen got one on one with Main it was Formartine that looked more like breaking the deadlock.

The pressure for a winning goal was on and mounting when barely a minute after entering the fray as sub in the 80th minute GETHINS showed his absolute genius with a finish that was a clear contender for goal of season. Picking up a rather tired looking clearance from Ross Anderson a good forty yards out from the Turra goal he launched an explosive right foot thunderbolt that left the otherwise excellent Hobday rooted to the spot as the ball screamed into the net at his top right hand corner. This deserved to win the game; but it didn't. Almost directly from the restart Turriff threw caution to the winds and brought Brown on for Ewen and did all they could to snatch the fat from the fire. It was hundred mile an hour stuff before in the 84th minute centre back CHALMERS got on the end of a Taylor ball from the left to bundle it into the net from ten yards out and level the game.

Formartine however had other thoughts and with Burnett on for Norris continued to mount successive waves of attack. Rodger bursting through the middle was crudely felled by Ross Anderson but strangely no foul was given. Hobday made a couple of decent stops from Greig but it was beginning to look like the homeside would hold out on level terms until up popped GETHINS again, this time with a proper poachers goal. After a crafty late run to the far stick beating the off side trap to get onto a ball played over the goal face by Rodger, he simply dinked it into the net just inside the near post from only a couple of yards out. That burst the Turra bubble once and for all and the North Lodgers simply and competently ran down the clock for the remaining three minutes to keep the points.

Match report by Colin Keenan