Cans crash out of Highland League Cup race

Forres Mechanics 1 Formartine United 3

A DOUBLE from Michael Ewen, a one time target of Forres manager Charlie Rowley, and a late Craig McKeown goal sent Forres Mechanics crashing out of the Breedon Aggregates Highland League Cup on Saturday.

Former Cans boss Steve Paterson made some key personnel changes in an attempt to blunt a Mechanics side which had beaten them in the league a few weeks earlier and it proved to work for Pele, who received praise from the Can Cans supremo.

After the game Rowley said “Obviously we are really disappointed to have been knocked out of the Cup as it was the last trophy that we could have picked up this season. It was always going to be difficult coming up against Formartine United who are one of the favourites for the title and, in the end, they probably deserved to go through on the balance of play.

“You have to give them credit for winning the game, everyone knows they are a good team and to be fair to Steve (Paterson) he changed his team around to try and cope with us better than they did in the first game. Craig McKeown, their big centre half, was pushed into central midfield and Hamish Munro also came in there.

“Having said that we could and probably should have been two or more goals to the good at half time and that would have given us something to hold on to. Looking back over the game things were pretty well balanced overall but there were two twenty minutes spells. In the first half we had our spell where we were in the ascendency.

“We hit the post but we didn’t take our chances during that time. In the second half when Formartine had their spell where they were dominant we conceded what was a sloppy second goal and just like in the first game it was the second one (for either team) that proved decisive.

“After that we didn’t look like we were going to be able to come back into the game and we just didn’t have enough within us to change things. Simon Allan was out through illness, Ross Macpherson managed to start the game but he had to come off at half time. Scott Moore played through the last half an hour with a hamstring problem and we were also without Ryan Green, Scott Lawrie, Fraser Bremner, Martin McMullen and Willie Barron with both Nathan Sharp and Lee Fraser just getting back from injury.

“It is not meant as an excuse it is just a factor that highlights that when you are playing against the top teams then you have to have a fully fit squad available if you are to win and win consistently. Unfortunately we didn’t have that for this game and when they took the lead we just weren’t able to change the game.”

With Simon Allan a late call off due to a sickness bug and Martin McMullen suspended Kevin Duguid came straight back into the starting line up as Forres prepared to face Formartine looking to repeat their earlier league success.

Although Formartine were the first to record and effort on goal it was the Mechanics who imposed themselves on the game. From a Kevin Duguid ball from the right Ross Archibald drilled a shot goalwards from ten yards but Andy Shearer made the save.

Archibald was, as ever a real threat and he struck the post before testing Andy Shearer once again, but the big stopper proved his worth. The pressure was building and it finally told as the Mechanics took the lead with a wonderful goal.

A corner from the left by winger Craig McGovern was lofted towards the far post, where right-back Graham Fraser rose the highest to head the ball back into the danger area. This allowed Forres’ Scott Moore to unleash an audacious overhead kick and the ball flew like an arrow into the top left hand corner of the net.

At this stage it was Forres who looked in charge but ten minutes later the game was level. Michael Ewen beat the offside trap to control a Neil McVitie blast and hit a shot which found it’s way into the net from seven yards. Former Can Can Hamish Munro then tested Stuart Knight twice as Formartine looked to end the half in the lead, something that would have been unfair on the home side.

Just before the hour mark the Can-Cans had their first big chance in their push to go a goal up. Graham Fraser lofted the ball towards the left hand side of the box from thirty yards with a free kick. Striker Kyle Scott then leaped above his marker to flick the ball on in the direction of the on rushing Kevin Duguid just inside the six yard box on the right hand side, whose thrashed effort across the face of goal from five yards went inches wide of the post.

On sixty five minutes Formartine winger Callum Bagshaw really should have scored when presented with any opportunity three yards out to put his team in front, but instead he skewed his effort wide of the right hand post. However the away side did grab the iniative four minutes later in bizarre circumstances. Forres were passing the ball around their back four seemingly under no pressure, but then disaster struck for the home team when Kyle Scott hit a back pass to the keeper well short, which was surely not helped by the conditions, and Michael Ewen took good advantage of the situation by neatly dancing around the stranded keeper with the ball before rolling it into the deserted net.

Mike Ewen hit the left hand post from ten yards out but the game was beyond doubt when the third goal was added four minutes from time. A Neil McVitie right hand corner was lofted into the box, where Craig McKeown rose above everybody else to head the ball into the roof of the net from seven yards, cue wild celebrations from the travelling fans.

The world of football never stops turning though and the Forres camp have no time to lick their wounds before they head to Princess Royal Park on Wednesday night to face a Deveronvale side that defeated Fraserburgh 3-1 on penalty kicks. The game effectively marks the start of the preparations for the 2013-2014 season for Charlie Rowley but at this stage his only real concern is finding enough fit players to fill the jerseys.

“We will travel to Deveronvale in midweek and I think we will be lucky to have eleven fit players for that game. Scott Moore and Ross Macpherson are unlikely to be fit after the Formartine game and Nathan Sharp is unavailable due to work commitments. We will have to pull things together and give our all in the game.

“In terms of the league campaign I was already looking ahead to next season with the primary focus being the Highland League Cup but now we are out of that it will now be about preparing the team for next season. We will be looking at giving the guys like Lee Fraser the chance to come in and build themselves up.

“While we can’t sign any players between now and the end of the season we will be looking at how we can strengthen the squad and will be talking to players about next season. “

Forres Mechanics: S Knight, G Fraser, D Jones, G Grant, S Fraser, R Macpherson, K Duguid, S Moore, R Archibald, K Scott, C McGovern Subs: L Fraser, R Mackintosh, A Howard, N Sharp, S McIntosh

Scorer: S Moore (24)

Formartine United: A Shearer, S Jaffrey, S Smith, C McKeown, M Smith, D Donald, N McVitie, H Munro, M Ewen, D Park, C Bagshaw Subs: K Webster, C Dingwall, R Davidson, P Napier, R Campbell

Scorers: M Ewen (35, 69) C McKeown (86)

Referee: G Elder

Gazette Gold Star: Scott Moore was a bright spark during the Mechanics brightest spell in the game and his goal was quite simply a thing of beauty.

Ryan Green’s Testimonial Committee would like to thank everyone for supporting their recent events. A quiz night that was held in the Beastie was excellently run and attended and ultimately raised over £200. The following night a Salsa evening in the Mosset Tavern was equally as successful with a mixture of players, dancers and local spicing things up on what was a memorable event.

There will be two further events with the next one being the Testimonial Dinner which takes place on Friday May the 24th in the Mosset. Former Inverness Caley Thistle and Ross County manager, who was of course a Hearts legend John Robertson will be one of two main speakers on what promises to be an entertaining evening in honour of the player who scored the goal that effectively clinched Forres’ historic title win. Anyone who is interested in taking a table should contact Pam Green on 07976404402.