SHFL Under 18 League (East).  Monday 25th September 2023, Uniconn Park, Bridge of Don.

Hermes U18’s 1

Scorer: Abari (1)

Formartine United U18’s 11

Scorers: Branden Beaton (4), Brody Alberts (5, 32, 70), Kooper Richardson (30, 50, 60), Mitchel Watson (34, 68), Arran Paterson (65), Tome Nadji (85).

Match Report by Craig Burness

Formartine came into the game in buoyant mood after a narrow victory in their previous game four weeks ago.  Shortly after kick off, Hermes took the lead. A fine individual goal from ABARI found the bottom corner where Bisset had no chance. Not to be undone by this setback, Formartine continued with their patient, passing football. Scores were levelled in the 4th minute. A fine long range shot from Watson beat the Hermes keeper then struck the post, BEATON was on hand to score.
Play resumed and only a minute later Formartine took the lead. Watson was fouled around 25 yards from goal, with the resultant free kick ALBERTS found the top corner of the goal.

Formartine dominated possession and play with only some resilient saves from Hermes’ Miller denying Formartine increasing their lead.  However, Formartine got their rewards for their dominance on the 30 minute mark. A Buckle corner was headed back across goal by Alberts and RICHARDSON was on hand to head home.  ALBERTS then got his second of the game, powerfully heading home from another Buckle corner only 2 minutes later.  With Formartine’s next attack from kick off, a through ball from Morris broke to WATSON, who confidentially finished in off the post.  The rest of the half continued in the same vein, Morris and Burnett calmly and confidentially marshalling the defence and limiting any Hermes attacks.  

Goal six for Formartine came in the 50th minute. Morris again found Alberts, who squared the ball to RICHARDSON to tap home.  On the 60th minute, substitute Thomson collected the ball centrally and his slide rule pass allowed RICHARDSON to confidently round the keeper and score from a narrow angle to complete his hat-trick.  With frustration growing, Hermes were reduced to ten men in the 63rd minute.

Within 5 minutes, Formartine added two more to their tally. Firstly PATERSON was found just outside the box, beat 3 challenges and fired a shot into the top corner. Next, Richardson then assisted WATSON who finished crisply with his left foot after well worked move.

Double figures hit in the 70th minute. A diagonal ball from Paterson was superbly controlled and struck by ALBERTS and also complete his hat-trick.  Finally, on 85 minutes, NADJI got his head to an Iheozor-Ejiofor cross to complete the scoring.

A superb professional team performance from Formartine with all players contributing. Great character from the squad after losing such an early goal, special mention to the solid defensive unit who gave the platform for the attacking players to perform.

Formartine United team: 1. Harry Bisset, 2. Aiden Wardrop, 3. Josh Proctor, 4. Finlay Morris, 5. Nathan Burnett, 6. Kooper Richardson, 7. Aaron Buckle, 8. Arran Paterson, 9. Brody Alberts, 10. Branden Beaton, 11. Mitchel Watson.  Subs: 12. Connor Newlands, 14. Sam Thomson, 16. Tome Nadji, 17. Dante Iheozor-Ejiofor, 21. Grant Corbett.

‍