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North Lodge Park

Wednesday 8^th April 2026

Last week’s trip to the Highland League was thoroughly enjoyable and was then backed up by the best game I’ve seen this season at Motherwell on Saturday. So I decided to ride my luck by heading back out for the last round of midweek fixtures in the Highland league before the season ends on Saturday. After seeing just 11 goals in eight games between December and the beginning of March I’d then seen 13 goals in my last three games, meaning this game would finish 5 – 4 or, more likely, 0 – 0.

There were ony four games in the Highland League this evening. I wasn’t considering the round trips to Nairn (174 miles) or Brora (314 miles) even though the latter of these could well end up deciding whether Brora or Brechin win the league. Turriff United were again playing at home but having been there last week I was left with just one option, Formartine United hosting Banks o’ Dee.

I’ve already seen both clubs play in the Scottish Cup this season; Banks o’ Dee in person during their third round defeat to Ross County, and Formartine United on BBC Scotland in their second round loss to Buckie Thistle. I’d actually contemplated going to the Formartine game but had discarded my plans when I’d looked at the weather forecast. Seeing Jonathan Sutherland and James McFadden having sleet driven into their faces by a 30mph wind on the TV coverage made me feel quite happy with my decision. The ground looked nice though…

I set out on probably the nicest evening we’ve had so far this year. The sun had been shining all day and it was still lovely and warm as I drove the 16 miles north to Pitmedden. I was actually considering leaving my coat in the car but there was a bit of a breeze so I decided to take it with me and was grateful for it as all the warmth disappeared as soon as the sun went down.

North Lodge Park is fairly compact with fewer facilities than Turriff for example but it still had more going for it than Meadowbank for example. I was able to get the cheapest cup of tea I’ve found at any ground this year and pick up a pin badge at the same time. I had a wander around the whole ground and settled on somewhere to stand and watch the game.

Warm-ups complete the teams went inside for their final instructions and came back out a few minutes later for the kick-off. It quickly became apparent that despite both of todays teams being comfortably better off in the league than either of last week’s teams, the quality of the game was much lower. Formartine started the brighter of the two and at one stage had a series of five consecutive corners, unfortunately each was worse than the last and none of them came to anything.

Banks o’ Dee’s first real foray forwards came on 22′ when their captain Sam Pugh pushed the ball past Rhys Thomas and avoided the tackle that followed. Thomas landed awkwardly, possibly catching his studs in the pitch, and immediately screamed in pain. Pugh sportingly stopped playing to allow Thomas to get treatment as quickly as possible but he ended up being stretchered off with his leg in an inflatable brace with what looked like a broken ankle. Pugh was then understandably furious when the referee told him that as he had voluntarily stopped the game he was going to give the ball back to Formartine United.

After a lengthy break for Thomas’ treatment, play got underway again. Formartine United broke forwards and Julian Wade, who had been caught offside probably eight times by this stage, managed to time his run better and was clean through until he was brought down by Banks o’ Dee keeper Daniel Hoban. He was shown a straight red card for his trouble and the visitors faced the task of playing with ten men for over an hour.

The resulting free kick was high and wide but Formartine didn’t have long to wait before they took advantage of having the extra man. A corner from the far side was whipped in by Tyler Mykyta and no-one could get a touch on it until it reached Marc Lawrence at the back post who nodded it in for the easiest of goals.

The only other chance of note in the first half again fell to Formartine when Michael Dangana cut inside from the left wing and hit a shot straight at Banks o’ Dee’s replacement goalkeeper Matthew Duncan. Wade was on hand to head home the rebound but as had been the case all half, he was offside. Strangely only two minutes of injury time were added despite Thomas receiving treatment for over ten minutes and the sending off and subsequent substitution also taking almost five minutes.

The second half started with Banks o’ Dee looking the more threatening team, they were playing far better football than either team had managed in the first half and showed no signs of being a man down. They had their own run of successive corners but couldn’t seem to craft a clear cut chance.

Formartine eventually managed to work themselves back into the game and their attacks were generally more threatening. Dangara had a good header clawed off the line for a corner and Lawrence hit a shot from 30 yards that clipped the post before going wide.

The game was settled just a couple of minutes after Formartine made their first unforced substitution. Rory McAllister (of Peterhead fame) was brought on to replace Wade and looked threatening with his first touch. Banks o’ Dee clearly didn’t take note of this though as his second touch was to comfortably beat Duncan at his near post after Aidan McCormick had got to the byline and pulled the ball back for him.

McAllister continued to show that whilst he may not have the legs to play from the start he’s still dangerous late in games as he played a brilliant no look pass to send McCormick through but he couldn’t quite control it in time to get his shot away. McAllister should have had a second but after beating his man he shot straight at Duncan who saved it comfortably.

The result was never really in doubt though and I struggled to recall a clear chance to Banks o’ Dee at any point. Things might have been different had they not picked up the red card but it was in no way controversial and Formartine saw out the game (semi-) professionally. The game wasn’t a classic and was somewhere in between my predictions at the start of this post, the ground was nice, everyone was welcoming, and knowing that there is a cheap cup of tea on offer I might well be back.

The Facts

• Ground
  • North Lodge Park
• Home
  • Formartine United
• Away
  • Banks o’ Dee
• Competition
  • The Highland League
• Result
  • 2 – 0
• Scorers
  • Marc Lawrence, Rory McAllister
• Attendance
  • Not announced
• Cost
  • £12
• Total distance travelled
  • 32 miles
• Transport
  • Car
• My MotM
  • Tyler Mykyta, he got the assist for the first goal and seemed to be Formartine’s creative threat going forward. He didn’t have too many chances to take men on as he seemed to be fairly closely marked but his teammates were always looking to get him the ball when they could.