Saturday 28th September 2024
Scottish Gas Scottish Cup 1st Round
Formartine United 2 Whitehill Welfare 0
Scorers: Johnny Crawford (73 Pen), Julian Wade (76)
This was a first round tie in the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup against a Midlothian team who have over the years , been known to have punched above their weight in the national trophy. Currently they occupy a lowly position in the East of Scotland 1st Division but the allure of the Scottish Cup is enough to inspire dreams of glory sufficient for any team at this level to fancy their chances at North Lodge. United knew they would need to work hard to see off their visitors and did so. After a fairly even first half, Formartine were able to impose their own shape on the game and emerge as convincing winners to progress to the next round for the somewhat dubious honour of facing Brora Rangers at Dudgeon Park on the last Saturday of this month.
At first sight Welfare looked a bit like they had been modelled on a Rangers side of the 1970’s with big guys positioned through the central spine of the team and others playing wide of them. They had a tendency to play a long ball game trying to get the ball up to a big striker as quickly and directly as possible, They worked hard for each other within that framework and there was little sense that they were going to take time to suss out their opposition before trying to impose their own style on the game.
That said, United were the first to show after a push on the right yielded them a throw from a step or two shy of the corner flag. A huge throw from McLean found the head of Wade near the penalty spot but the header went over the top. Minutes later a long ball from Austin was chased down by Dawson but the ensuing shot found a thicket of legs before emerging at the feet of keeper Macdonald. He parried with ball at his feet and found his clearance charged down and returned to him. He dealt well with the shot before going on to play a major part in turning the game in his team’s favour.
First half honour's were evenly divided but the last ten minutes or thereby were probably the visitors’ best spell of the game. Between the 35th and 38th minutes Macdonald pulled off three impressive stops to keep the game goalless. The first two were from close range in a crowded goal mouth but the pick of them was from a thumping 20 yard drive from Hutchison which he dived low to push round the post.
The second half saw United begin to gradually move from reactive to proactive and gradually impose their own style on the game rather than adapting and reacting to the less studied approach from Welfare. Wade was on song for Formartine and they found it difficult to cope with his pace and trickery in and around the box.
As the half progressed United imposed more and longer spells of pressure at the village end goal and keeper Pollock was increasingly occupied. Mykyta replaced Adams and the periods of pressure were increased but it took until the 73 minute for United to get the breakthrough that their increasing pressure looked like earning them. Referee Clyde Buchan, almost as long as his Christian name might suggest, penalised Hynd for roughhousing Wade to the ground immediately after Austin had tripped Mykyta on the fringe of the box.
CRAWFORD scored his 9th goal of the season by hammering the resultant spot kick at head height right of the diving keeper. Two minutes later the game was over as a contest when WADE delivered what he had been promising for some time. Chasing down a through ball from the back and with the keeper charging forward to clear, he blocked the custodian’s attempt at clearance, dragged the ball round him and ran on to salute the crowd as he elegantly passed the ball into the unguarded net.
The final fifteen minutes saw Whitehill desperately trying to pull the fat out of the fire but the nearest they got to that was to do more of the same long ball stuff with even more urgency. It meant that the United defence was well occupied without being seriously threatened. The down side for United was that Crawford picked up a second yellow presumably for persistent foul play and thereby dismissed.
Formartine United Team: Ewen Macdonald, Johnny Crawford, Luke Strachan, Lewis Wilson, Matthew McLean, Marc Lawrence, Julian Wade [Stuart Smith 90], Graeme Rodger (c), Scott Adams [Tyler Mykyta 60], Callum Youngson [Arron Norris 60], Michael Dangana [Aidan McCormick 80]. Unused Subs: Ross Clark, Aidan Combe, Rhys Thomas, Cameron Middleton.
Whitehill Welfare Team: Pollock, Wilson, Abrahams [Dick 90], Austin, Prior, Renton [O' Neill 82], Rutherford [Hynd 70], Ballard [Sankey 90], Dawson [Stokes 82], Hutchison, Groton. Unused Subs: Jardine [GK], Osborne.