Goals from Kieran Adams and Aidan Combe saw Formartine United seal a 2-0 home win over Huntly in the Breedon Highland League.
United manager Stuart Anderson admitted it was a game of two halves at North Lodge Park.
He said: “In the first half, Huntly probably had the better of the game, but in the second I think we edged it and took our chances – and I’m delighted it’s another clean sheet for us.
“Every game in this league is difficult and it probably took us 45 minutes to get going.
“Kieran Adams got the first, and we do set our defenders a target with goals in terms of going up for corners and, to be fair, they’re adding to their tally. You need goals all over the park.
“Likewise, Aidan Combe has done really well since he joined with six goals in eight games and he’s got a great attitude and we’re delighted to have him here.”
Huntly came close after three minutes when Angus Grant got round the back of the home defence before rolling a shot wide.
Three minutes later, a trademark long throw from Formartine’s Matthew McLean picked out the head of Stuart Smith, but he was denied by a Fraser Hobday save.
With a minute of the first half remaining, James Connelly’s throw for Huntly picked out Grant, who cut back for Gavin Elphinstone, only for his low drive to come off the base of the post. The ball rebounded for Cameron Blacklock, but he could only find the side-netting.
Huntly continued to create chances after the break and, five minutes into the second half, Grant played the ball on for Blacklock, who was kept out by a fingertip save from home keeper Ewen Macdonald.
‘The boys are devastated’
Formartine broke the deadlock after 70 minutes. McLean sent long throw from the right straight into the Huntly six-yard box and Kieran Adams rose to head his first goal since mid-September.
United doubled their advantage four minutes from time when Combe fired past an advancing Hobday for his seventh of the season.
Huntly Manager Allan Hale admitted it was a tough defeat to take.
He said: “The boys are devastated, we put a lot into the game and I don’t think they’ve done a lot wrong.
“What separates the two teams is conviction in front of goal.
“We’ve created numerous opportunities, but, ultimately, it’s goals that win you games and we didn’t do that”.
Wood hat-trick in Inverurie’s win over Deveronvale
A Garry Wood hat-trick lifted the spirits of supporters of managerless Inverurie Locos, as they beat Deveronvale 4-0 at Harlaw Park.
With Locos expected to appoint a new boss to replace the departed Richard Hastings in the coming days, co-interim gaffer Richard Davidson was delighted to have steered the team to victory – aided by a goal in the opening minute.
He said: “You go into these games with a wee bit of trepidation.
“John Farquhar and myself were not sure if the players would be listening to us – you just want them to go out and play for themselves and the supporters.
“You couldn’t have scripted it better – 55 seconds gone on my watch for the first goal.”
Locos did indeed grab the lead within seconds, when a free-kick from Calum Dingwall was headed in by Wood.
‘Couldn’t have scripted it better’
There would be no further Inverurie goals in the first half, but it was not for the want of trying. Greg Mitchell and Dingwall had powerful shots saved by Vale keeper Sean McIntosh, while a Mark Souter header went narrowly over
The visitor’s best effort at levelling the scores was a Harry Noble shot which went narrowly wide on 55 minutes, and they were then dealt a significant blow on 57 minutes when a knock meant goalie McIntosh had to go off, with Gavin Still serving as stand-in keeper.
Lloyd Robertson got the second Locos goal on 64 minutes – his deflected long-range effort flying high into the net.
Vale’s Jayden Goldie brought down Inverurie’s Robert Ward inside the box on 83 minutes, and Wood confidently converted the resultant spot-kick for his second of the afternoon.
And, in the last minute, the striker completed his treble with a header after his initial effort was saved by Still.
89' Wood has a hat trick! His first header was saved but he made no mistake with the second 4-0 pic.twitter.com/Q61t1RG8tw
— InverurieLocoWorksFC (@InverurieLocos) January 14, 2023
Co-interim boss Davidson felt Locos should have sealed the win over Deveronvale earlier than they did, but was pleased with the performances of several of his players, including those returning to the squad.
He said: “Jay Halliday came back in, he’s been out injured. He and Garry Wood have played up front together on a few occasions and have a good partnership.
“We had options – Calum Dingwall and Lloyd Robertson had a great partnership, Sam Burnett came back in as a substitute and was clever on the ball when you want to take the sting out of the game.”
With Vale boss Craig Stewart absent due to illness, senior player and coach Grant Noble stood in.
He said: “It was a poor free kick for us to give away early and we didn’t defend it. That’s never a perfect start and over the whole game we didn’t create enough.
“We didn’t have the killer final pass or touch in front of goal to make it count.
“With the change at Locos you could see they were up for it, but we’ve battled well against top teams recently.”