They are going head-to-head for the Highland League championship, little wonder Formartine and Cove could not be separated in the Scottish Cup meeting of the teams at North Lodge Park.
Formartine assistant-manager Mike Cormack reckoned his team missed a great chance to win the game at the first time of asking and said: “We played really well in the first half but should have scored. We let them off the hook.
“But they’re not top of the league for any other reason than they keep winning games.
“We have to kill these teams off. It was a game of two halves as we let them back into the tie.
“We finished the game with 10 men after Johnny Crawford was unlucky to be sent off. So we go again next week it’s a shame one of the teams has to go out.”
Cove manager John Sheran said: “They were better team in the first half, but both teams created a number of chances.
“It was a good, even contest. We changed things a bit in the second half, being one down on a difficult pitch after being too much on our heels earlier.
“We needed to up our game and did. We’re happy to still be in the cup, on another day we may have edged it.”
Formartine goal-scorer Scott Barbour, who had been outstanding against Inverurie Locos in his previous outing, was frustrated when the ball took a bobble as he shot and the chance was missed.
Midfielders Jamie Masson, of United, and Cove’s Blair Yule tried pot shots at either end which were easily saved by the goalkeepers in a fast-flowing opening, but Formartine missed a great chance to go ahead in 21 minutes when Garry Wood’s firmly struck penalty kick was brilliantly saved by Stuart McKenzie, diving at full length to his right, after Eric Watson had impeded Cammy Keith.
The home side was in good form in the opening half and as half-time beckoned Formartine captain Paul Lawson’s free kick took a deflection for a corner, McKenzie turning Stuart Anderson’s left-foot shot away from the resulting flag kick.
It was no surprise the Red and Whites took the lead in the final minute of the half.
Barbour cut in from the right and deceived McKenzie with a left-foot low shot which past him.
Cove needed to up their game to get back into the tie and they grew in confidence as they took a better control of the flow of play.
Their equaliser in 78 minutes came from a brilliant overhead kick by leading scorer Daryl Nicol from Connor Scully’s cross, taking his season’s tally to 26.
United number one Andy Reid made a superb save to deny a swerving shot from Scully and with only three minutes left central defender Johnny Crawford was shown a straight red card red for a rash challenge on Scully.
