After a reasonable but sometimes, rusty looking performance against high flying Broch last week, Formartine looked for the first 45 like they were going to deliver pretty much the same at Kynoch Park. An impressive second half transformation gave the lie to that one as the rust vanished to be replaced by a display as shiny, polished and sharp as they have delivered in SHFL. One can only assume that manager

Gardiner accessed this remarkable potion at half time.
A measure of the weather ravaged season was the fact that this was Keith's first home game since the second week in November. The pitch was spongy but clearly playable and underfoot conditions did not play as big a hand in the course of the game as might have been anticipated.

Both sides started in 4-4-2 formation and initially although play was conducted with a lot of end to end effort, defences were largely on top. Formartine possibly kept their shape a little better and showed some penetration in the wider areas. Newcomer Ritchie singer was out to impress and five minutes in he managed to work his way past Lonie to find Coull to release Bagshaw who just as Niddrie looked to close him down, clipped the ball across to Marc Young whose diving header slipped a foot or so past Sherarer's right post.

Minutes later Keith mounted and sustained a period of pressure on the Formartine rearguard gaining three corners (two left and one right] in as many minutes. All were fairly capably dealt with by a fairly steady looking back four of Cumming, Graham, Irvine and Simpson. On the breakaway a well weighted long diagonal ball from the increasingly impressive Vigurs found Coull breaking into an under-populated Keith half. With only Watt between him and the keeper, the wily old striker looked to have gained the upper hand until the full back cynically wrestled him to the deck. A booking and free kick was scant reward and allowed the home defence to return to their stations and clear the danger.

Play continued in this end to end fashion. In 32 minutes Formartine managed to swing the ball right to left across the home box as Singer found Bagshaw from thirty yards away. The striker slipped the ball diagonally back out of the box to the advancing Somers who let fly with a twenty five yard pile driver that flew over Shearer's cross bar. Six minutes later, Big Baz came even closer with a thumping header that rebounded off the junction of upright and bar: rising imperiously above Niddrie and McKay he got full force contact onto a Cumming cross, the keeper was beaten but woodwork spared him.

It was beginning to look like the most likely source of a goal for either side was going to be a mistake by the other or perhaps a set piece. They started the second half with the same personnel in the same formation but the game had been utterly transformed. Formartine started with a high tempo and looked to have grown in confidence. They moved the ball about slickly and were chasing, harrying and closing down at a rate that clearly was more than Keith could comfortably handle. It took four minutes of this to yield its first result. It was almost a solo goal as Bagshaw was onto the end of a well judged through ball from Vigurs. Streaking through the inside right channel, he was past Lonie and Mackay with ease and turned left to advance in on goal. Still out right and about eight yards in from the bye line he rifled a viciously accurate low raking shot that left the keeper spellbound.

Keith's response came from increased endeavour, grit and determination but all they could do was try to hold onto this by now rampant Formartine team. There was a sense that there was much more to come from Formartine. This didn't take long. Three minutes later they were back at it. The home defence simply couldn't contain Bagshaw and Coull. In the 52nd minute Coull held the ball in the centre of the D and released it to the predatory Bagshaw who launched a whizz bang of a shot that rebounded off some part of Nicol. Somers was following through and from near the penalty spot curled the ball well past Shearer to let his old club know what they were missing.

Keith attempts at damage limitation – it was beyond them to get back at Formartine in this kind of form – were increasingly desperate and it was largely due to the charity or inattention of Referee Pirie that Cammy Keith, after a serious of fouls, remained on the pitch after following through on keeper Grey who had gone to earth to block his shot. Watt and Lonie were getting a bit of a roasting from Singer and Somers and relied increasingly on the darker arts of containment. By this stage, home attempts at attack were about as frequent and fertile as the droppings of a rocking horse and the only issue to be decided was the extent of the Formartine victory.

This was determined in the 79th minute by newcomer Singer. He completed a notably on song debut with a goal that had much in common with Bagshaw's opener. Cutting in from the right he turned goal wards. This time, Shearer moved out to narrow the angle. With perfect judgement the wide man lifted the ball over the advancing custodian and into the net.
Formartine never let up over the remaining ten minutes but Keith, to their credit, battled on in their forlorn cause as Formartine continued to pressurise them in every area.

This second half display by Formartine was highly impressive. Something clicked and their second half performance showed clearly what they are capable of. Manager Gardiner has been saying for sometime that one day they will give some side a right doing. For forty five minutes you could see what he meant.

Teams;
Keith: Shearer, Watt, Lonie, Mackay, Niddrie, Nicol, Walker, Park, C.Keith, Harris, S. Keith. Subs: Duff, Craig, Lennox, Donaldson McCall.
Formartine United: Gray, Cumming, Graham, Irvine, Simpson, Somers, Vigurs, Singer, Bagshaw, Coull, Young. Subs: Seivewright, Shinnie, Fyfe, Maitland, Morrison.