Absence ravaged Formartine Utd and Clachnacuddin will have few complaints at having a day end on a score draw situation on a bizarre afternoon where shots off target were sometimes miles off target when goals could have been scored
Formartine's desperate availability situation was such that Mark Smith, having played up front against old club Cove Rangers, was forced to line up alongside Ross Campbell in central defence in this one
The home side threatened first with Colin Robertson's raking pass to his right picking up Barrie Stephen whose low cross was dinked slowly past the post by Michael McGinlay
At the other end Sam Urquhart's pot shot from the edge of the box was watched by Ross Bremner as it raced past his right post
Both sides earned their first corners at the half's halfway stage of a dour encounter, soon after Scott Graham glanced a header just wide as the Lilywhites started to get more ground control
After good shielding of the ball by Scott Graham, skipper Brian MacLeod went close then Graham could not believe how many acres of space he was in as he sneaked in between Richie Davidson and Ross Campbell but his parting effort not only missed the goal it ran right across goal and almost out for a throw
A 1-2 between Sam Urquhart and an industrious Alan Pollok ended with the No 11 bring out a full stretch save at the expense of a corner from Ross Bremner
The half was failing to be a spectacle to ignite the support, the stand's Hospitality contingent finding more excitement out of the ball going out of play and Craig Sim's half time whistle shrill was a relief
At the break the obvious summary was that the game desperately needed a goal. Well it came in 51 minutes. McGinlay at last realised there was a workrate to be adhered to as he bulleted down the right. He looked up and found Colin Robertson who poked the ball into the corner past a helpless Steven Dunn
Scott Graham continued to be a thorn in the home back line's flesh and this time, with an hour on the clock he cut in from the right on to his left foot but saw his shot well held by Bremner. The visitors came their closest to a goal in 64 minutes when a neat passing move culminated in a cross pinged to the head of Sam Urquhart. To Ross Bremner's relief, the ball hit the ground but bounced on to his post and not past him
Clach's hopes were minimised when Michael Finnis saw two yellow cards in the space of four minutes, and the homesters almost capitalised big time when new sub Andrew Bagshaw saw a shot blocked
However there is real determination in this young Clach camp and in 77 minutes they were level, out of nothing Alan Pollok looping a 20 yard shot into Bremner's right corner
Late on another sub Jason Coyle missed the target by miles after Mark Smith pushed forward to set him up, Barrie Stephen then fired into the side net and a home goal was chalked off for offside. But on the balance of play a draw the right result
Final Score Formartine Utd 1 Clach 1
Reporter John Innes