Formartine floored Forres with a superb display of fast, attacking football – although the victory came at a cost with the Pitmedden club suffering a couple of injuries late in the game.
Central defender Craig McKeown went off with 20 minute left, while full-back Wayne Mackintosh also picked up a knock in the closing stages.
United striker Garry Wood said: “We went down to 10 men, then latterly to nine but we still looked comfortable.
“We had used all our substitutes when Craig McKeown did his calf muscle with 20 minutes to go then Wayne Mackintosh did his back. He was basically non-existent for the last 10 minutes or so.
“We were pretty comfortable in the end.
“It was probably one of our easier games against Forres Mechanics.
“We played really well from start to finish and it was probably our best performance of the season and a well deserved three points.
“Forres are a tough side and they got a great 3-3 draw, coming back from 3-1 down, at Fraserburgh the previous last weekend.
“But the Forres manager’s comments that they probably had the best record of any Highland League team against ourselves in the 10 years we’ve been in the league may have fired us up a little bit more.”
Formartine struck two minutes from the break through Andrew Greig and eight minutes after the break top scorer Scott Lisle made it 2-0.
In the final minute, Graeme Rodger confirmed Formartine’s superiority by notching a third goal.
Forres manager Charlie Rowley made no excuses and said: “There is no question we were beaten by the better side. Formartine were a real threat.
“The big disappointment was going in 1-0 down at half-tine after conceding a goal two minutes from the break.
“It would have given us a real boost if we had been able to keep it at 0-0 at the interval.
“We created a couple of good chances on the break but there was no doubt the better team won.
“We just weren’t quite good enough on the day.
“The league looks as if there will be many ups and downs all season and pretty much every team can beat each other on their day.
“We can now turn our attention to this weekend’s home Scottish Cup first-round tie against Banks o’ Dee.
“It should be a good test for us.
“We’ve had them watched twice and we will be as prepared as we possibly can be.
“We’re under no illusions that we’ll have to play really well to get through.”
Formartine are also in Scottish Cup action this weekend when they make the short journey to Turriff United.