November 20th 2023
LES Fridge cursed his team’s misfortune as Formartine United inflicted another heavy defeat on the club last night with a 5-1 success which came hot on the heels of Cove Rangers’ 6-1 victory over Nairn on Saturday, writes Graeme Macleod. Fridge saw his team go in 3-0 down at half time thanks to goals from Graeme Rodgers, Scott Barbour and Garry Wood. Although Alan Pollock pulled one back immediately after the interval, Wood added his fourth from the penalty spot before rounding off his hat trick. The County boss said: “We were up against a very good side and were unlucky to lose the first goal. Yes, it was a very good finish but Sean Webb slipped just as he was about to challenge the boy (Graeme Rodger). “For the second one, the boy (Scott Barbour) cut inside and had a hit and it was going wide but it then took a deflection off one of our players and flew into the net. “It is hard to say it was mistakes that cost us because maybe we were a bit unlucky. We were 3-0 down at half time and I thought we made the perfect start to the second half and pulled it back to 3-1. “We were then looking for another goal but we then had what I could only describe as a dubious penalty given against us. I thought Wayne Mackintosh clearly won the ball and I do not think there was any doubt about that. It went to 4-1 though and that knocked the stuffing out of us and left us with a mountain to climb.” Fridge felt his players looked capable of at least cutting the deficit further when the home side were awarded the contentious spot kick. He added: “I thought we were on top in the game once we got it back to 3-1 and if anyone was looking to score another goal, it was us. “They scored with the penalty, which was only their first attempt on goal in the second half. That shows how the game was going at that point before we conceded the dubious penalty, which was at a very important point in the game.” Fridge believed that for all of the home side’s possession, County managed to contain the hosts to very few chances on goal with goalkeeper Calum Antell relatively untroubled other than at the goals. He stated: “Although they had a bit of possession and they have good players, it was not as if we were getting battered and it was a case of Calum Antell having to make save after save. It is a hard one to take after Saturday but you are probably talking about the two best teams in the league.” County have now shipped 11 goals in their last two games but now must prepare themselves for the next game against Fort William, which is just around the corner. The boss added: “Everybody at the club is disappointed – I can certainly tell you the players are disappointed at the last couple of results but nobody else is going to pick us up apart from ourselves.” Graeme Macleod
