North East Scotland F.A.
League 2
Friday 18th July 2025
Kick Off 19.00 Actual 19.01
New Deer 7 Ardallie 6, attendance 22
1’ 1-0
7’ 2-0
10’ 2-1
14’ 2-2
34’ 3-2
38’ 3-3
48’ 3-4
50’ 4-4 (pen)
58’ 4-5
62’ 5-5
67’ 6-5
77’ 6-6
90’ + 1, 7-6
@ Fordyce Road
New Deer
AB53 6SB
No Admission or Programme.
This was the first game I’ve ever watched in this league and where better to start than with a game between the bottom two in the league (lowest division of two), who had managed just one win each all season. The ground is in Fordyce Road, with the set up also hosting tennis and bowls. There are two parallel pitches here, the main one being adjacent to the driveway leading to the car park at the rear of the changing room building. It has wooden fencing acting as a pitch barrier along one side and behind the goal end nearest the entrance, as well as a pair of wooden dugouts and there’s also a small bit of cover set back in the corner, which would be useful in wet weather, but has a blind spot in one corner, so far from ideal. It certainly wasn’t needed tonight, on yet another glorious evening.
As for the match. It was absolutely bonkers. New Deer were ahead inside ten seconds and two up after seven minutes. Ardallie replied quickly and were level at 2-2 before we’d even played quarter of an hour. New Deer went back in front after the ‘keeper was beaten from a tight angle, but a quick breakaway and low shot past the ‘keeper saw Ardallie level it up at 3-3 seven minutes before halftime.
The second half continued in the same vein as the first. New Deer had a goal ruled out for offside within a minute of the restart, before going 3-4 behind when an Ardallie player cut in from the right and finished low into the far corner. By the fifth minute of the half it was 4-4, courtesy of a New Deer penalty that went in off the underside of the crossbar. Just before the hour mark the visitors made it 4-5, after a ball across the face of the goal was put in at the far post. The lead lasted just four minutes though, when a cross was half blocked and poked past the ‘keeper from close range. With twenty three minutes left New Deer were back in front, after a defender diverted a cross into his own net, but the inevitable equaliser followed ten minutes later, when a cracking 25 yarder made it 6-6. Minutes later New Deer hit the post and just as it looked like we’d end all square, a long ball over the top was poked past the ‘keeper, from just inside the box, to win it for New Deer a minute into stoppage time.
An absolutely superb game to watch as a neutral. My highest ever draw I’ve witnessed is 6-6. I really thought the 7-7 might have been achieved tonight, as there were still a couple of chances for Ardallie in the dying seconds and to be honest, a draw would have been a fair result overall
