Turrif United 1 - Formartine United 5
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With this season’s championship truncated to 15 games each for the teams competing it, getting out of the blocks quickly to notch up points ahead of rivals is definitely the name of the game when the potential for playing catch-up is almost certain to be severely limited by the compressed format and timescale.
On that basis, Formartine could hardly have hoped for a better opening game while, despite having struggled manfully for an hour or more, Turrifff face the recognition that they have some way to go to live with the pace their local rivals set in this game.
You can’t really start with a bigger bang than an opening goal before the game is two minutes old and United imposed themselves right from the outset with a well worked and superbly finished effort .
Graeme Rodger - arguably Formartine’s man of the match -won a contest of wills with his opposite number seven, Aiden Cross to to pinch a 50/50 ball mid way between the centre circle and the Turra box, swivelled to his left to feed the ball to Smith who was scorching down the inside right route before slinging the ball to drop perfectly to meet Gary WOOD’s back post run.
The big striker threw himself at the ball to force it past Hobday with a trademark diving header.
From that moment on it was clear that Turriff’s card was marked.
Their workrate and determination was commendable but they did not look like they had the resources with which to reverse the forward march of their visitors.
They worked hard for each other and to hold their shape. Stuart, Cross , Mykyta and Macdonald all in their ways showed willing to commit and press forward but in the main they lacked the nous of the more seasoned campaigners in the United ranks who by and large outmuscled them but crucially also had the presence to maintain more and better possession .
Turriff did apply bits of pressure but nothing more than the rearguard of McKeown, Kelly, Crawford and Smith could contain.
That United extended their lead 15 minutes later was no surprise nor was the manner of its delivery.
Wood and Smith spearheaded the United attack interchanging and overlapping left and right, running hard and direct at defenders.
One such thrust with PARK tracking a route between the two and a few yards behind set him up perfectly to hammer home a Wood cross from the left after the striker had pinched the ball off Turner. .
It didn’t look like Turriff had much hope of finding a way back but persistence is its own reward and a controversial goal gave them a glimmer in the 42nd minute.
Little controversy about the award of a free kick around 25 yards out from the United goal but when WARD’s thumping drive rebounded from the underside of the bar to the apparent safety of Main’s arms and was adjudged to be a goal, plenty ensued.
The fact that neither the ref nor the relevant assistant was in line with or within much less than thirty yards of the goal nonplussed players and club officials of both sides.
United started the second as they had the first with a quick, clinically delivered goal.
In the 51st,Garry WOOD, marauding through the centre latched on to a feed from his left and despatched it smartly past Hobday for 3-1.
United had the game well sewn up by then and although Turriff battled on they started to fade a little, while the Formartine master class continued. It was never a case of one prolonged siege but simply wave upon wave of well worked and sweetly delivered attacks sometimes from the back but more often from midfield.
The home defence was under repeated periods of pressure but contained the damage to only two further goals.
Crawford ,Smith, Park and Wood were all denied by a combination of good goal keeping by Hobday and a densely packed home box but United were ultimately irresistible.
And it was CRAWFORD lurking outside the right corner of the box during a period of pressure mostly from the left picked up a loose ball and drilled it home in the 63rd minute.
Just before the close of play RODGER got reward for a characteristic battling display as he administered the coup de grace after waltzing diagonally through the box to drill the ball low past Hobdays left hand from twelve yards out.
