Formartine struck down by another doze of Broch blues
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THE scoreline is a fair reflection of a hard-fought semi-final encounter in the Aberdeenshire Shield currently held by United.
The pattern of the game was significantly influenced by a strong, biting wind that blew down the pitch towards the Town End.
With it at their backs in the first half, the Broch dominated enough to keep United hemmed in to their own final third for long periods.
In the face of such pressure and in the teeth of that wind, Formartine found real difficulty in clearing their lines and have totemic keeper Kevin Main to thank for an outstanding display of the custodian's craft and keeping them in the game and only two goals adrift at the interval.
A string of superb saves including two, from point blank range a matter of seconds apart from Paul Campbell were the pick of many.
It would be somewhat of an exaggeration to claim that the situation was entirely reversed in the second half but wind advantage was enough to ensure United got back into the game to the extent of pulling one goal back and pressing hard enough thereafter to suggest that an equaliser at least was an attainable prospect.
In the end it wasn't and United's hopes of a good season are fast fading as the turn of the year approaches.
On this season's evidence, they are not as good a side as the Broch - having lost to them in the final of the Aberdeenshire Cup, taking one point from six in the league and now surrendering the Shield to them.
Former United forward Scott Barbour was always going to be up for this one and showed early menace in chasing down a long bouncing ball from the back to get one-on-one with Main only for the keeper to nick the ball a milli-second before he could get his head onto it.
United worked hard enough to generate a little early pressure at the Broch end but never got as far as stretching Paul Leask.
Broch pressure was ramping up and United were forced onto the back foot within the first 10 minutes -a position that seldom varied until the interval.
In the 11th minute, Campbell got on the end of a ball chipped in left-to-right by Willie West but screwed his shot from about six yards out wide of the left post.
The pressure continued almost unrelieved until in the 14th minute Sean Butcher found some space close in to take a a deflected Paul Young cross on the half-volley and thump the ball high into the net from less than 10 yards out.
The goal had been coming but as the wind and now the momentum were with the home side the best United could do was to hold on rather grimly.
Fraserburgh's second came 15 minutes later.
Butcher and Young had combined down the right flank before the former slung a loopy cross into the area between the six-yard box and penalty spot.
The aerial duel for it between Johnny Crawford and Paul Campbell was won by the latter as he powered his header past Main.
Fraserburgh continued to press and only dogged defending and outstanding goalkeeping prevented the crucial third that would have put the game irretrievably beyond United's reach.
However the second half saw an energised United battling back into contention.
They never developed quite the same level of sustained pressure that their opponents had in the first half, it was more episodic than that and Fraserburgh managed a fair few counters as well the best of which saw Main at full stretch to take a Campbell drive at the base of his right upright.
However overall United had the upper hand at this point and shortly after bringing on Kieran Lawrence for Liam Strachan and Conor Gethins for Aaron Norris, they halved the deficit with a stunning 30-yard low drive from Lawrence that screamed into the left hand corner of the net in the 63rd minute.
The impetus was now with United and they were working Fraserburgh hard.
Dan Park, Garry Wood and Gethins all went close with efforts from in or close to the box but the black and whites, defending in depth, held out and although looking rather ragged over the last 10 minutes did just enough to deny United the opportunity of a penalty shootout, which with keeper Main in such a rich vein of form they could have faced with some degree of confidence.
It was not to be.
