Forres Mechanics 1 Formartine United 3: Positives despite cup exit
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FORRES Mechanics manager Charlie Rowley described Saturday’s Highland League Cup exit at the hands of Formartine United as “hugely frustrating”.
But there was one major positive to take from the 3-1 quarter-final defeat, the Cans boss added, and that was the performance of striker Lee Fraser.
Rowley said: “The players showed a bit of a lack of belief in terms of being brave on the ball.
“At half-time we re-iterated how we wanted to play and the two 45s were totally different.
“The first half was poor and in the second half we were really good.
“It’s hugely frustrating because we didn’t give ourselves a platform to win the game because of that 45.”
Formartine took the lead inside ten minutes when Stuart Soane inadvertently slid the ball to Andrew Greig and he clipped in from 25 yards, with Stuart Knight off his line.
The visitors doubled their advantage on the half hour mark when Jonny Crawford’s hopeful ball found Conor Gethins to slide past Knight from inside the box.
Mechanics almost halved the deficit immediately but Lee Fraser was denied by Kevin Main and Stuart Soane's flicked effort was cleared off the line.
It was the 78th minute before the Cans pulled one back. A minute after twin brother Graham had been denied by an excellent Kevin Main save, Lee Fraser popped up to head an Allan MacPhee cross in from close-range.
But Formartine wrapped up the win when substitute Dan Park dispossessed James Ross, cut in from the left and fired into the roof of the net for 3-1 with ten minutes to go.
Goal scorer Lee Fraser wasn’t expected to play, having gone off early in the second half against Wick, but picked up man of the match.
Rowley added: “If Lee wasn’t the best player on the park then he was certainly our best player.
“I thought he was outstanding and that's a real good sign for us that he is on his way back to being his best.
"He had a wee test an hour before the match. I still wasn't sure if he was ready psychologically but he gave it a go and belied his concerns about it.
"That's a real positive for us."
Forres face Clachnacuddin away on Friday night at Highland Rugby Club. Kick-off is 7.45pm.
Scott Miller, who came on as a substitute for his first appearance of the season against Formartine, is back in contention - but the Friday night kick-off is causing trouble for Simon Allan.
Martin Groat (ribs), Ryan Farquhar (knee), Callum Johnston (hip) and Aaron Hamilton (ankle) are all due to be sidelined for more than a month.
Forres team: Knight, Ross, Soane, G.Fraser, Howarth, Milne, MacPherson, Hughes, Duncanson, Docherty, L.Fraser.
