Loons Lose on the Road

Airdrie United 3 Forfar Athletic 1

Forfar travelled to Airdrie United on the back of an excellent midweek away victory over Ayr United and made two changes to the starting line up.  Iain Campbell came in for the suspended Jamie Bishop and Graham Gibson made way for new loan signing Paul McQuade.

Forfar were first to threaten when Dow tested Ridgers from outside the box.  Sellars then headed past the post after a Ross Campbell cross came in from the right.  Iain Campbell cleared off the line from Gemmill as Airdrie mounted their first attack of the game just before the quarter hour mark.  Hilson replied with a left foot volley from the edge of the box which went over the bar.  Iain Campbell then crossed for Bolochoweckyj to test Ridgers with a header from inside the box.  Gallacher had to look smart to save a shot from Mackay Steven as he advanced towards the goal from the left at a tight angle.  Airdrie took the lead on twenty-two minutes from a free kick after Mowat was yellow carded for a trip on Mackay Steven.   Owens stepped up to fire in shot which struck Gallacher’s right hand post before cruelly rebounding off his back and into the net.  Around the half hour mark Forfar had Airdrie on the rack and it was no surprise when the Loons equalised.  Hilson fed the ball out to McQuade on the right who turned back on himself and swivelled to hit a glorious left foot curling shot high into the far corner off the post.  Ross Campbell then linked up with McQuade to fire in a right foot shot from the edge of the box which was saved by Ridgers.  Mowat then fed Ross Campbell down the left channel, but his fierce left foot shot was beaten away by Ridgers.  There was controversy five minutes before the break when Owens went down rather late in the box after a ball winning challenge by McCulloch.  Referee Roache pointed to the spot without consulting his better positioned stand-side assistant and McCord stuck home the spot kick to put the home side back in the lead.  Three minutes later worse was to follow for the Loons when Donnelly headed home a Mackay Steven corner at the front of the six yard box against a static Forfar defence.

Forfar started the second half with two personnel changes as Dow and Hilson were replaced by Gibson and Deasley.  Forfar were nearly caught cold right from the restart when Ross cleared a Gemmill effort off the line.  Deasley then played a neat one two on the edge of the box but his shot went over the bar.  Deasley then drifted in from the right to get on the end of a left wing cross but his header went across the face of the goal and past the post.  McQuade then had a great chance to get Forfar right back in the game when he collected a long diagonal ball on the run from Sellars.  He advanced on Ridgers into the box from the left, but the keeper did not go to ground as expected, and the loan striker’s attempted ‘dink’ was gratefully gathered by the relieved keeper.  Forfar kept to the task and their pressure on the Airdrie goal went unrewarded as they were unable to get the goal which would have put the home team under pressure to retain their lead.  A stramash in the home penalty area saw the ball eventually land at the feet of Gibson but his shot on goal was blocked.  Deasley then picked up a pass from Templeman, but his cross floated just out of the reach of Ross Campbell.  Templeman had a shot from twenty five yards out easily saved by Ridgers as Forfar continued to push forward.  Mowat then advanced down the left and squared the ball to Deasley, but once again the Airdrie defence blocked the effort at goal.  A quick free kick taken on the right saw McQuade get in a low shot which Ridgers just managed to divert past the far post.  From the resultant corner by Iain Campbell, Ridgers managed to save Ross Campbell’s goal bound header.  Another panic in the Airdrie box saw an effort by Templeman blocked as Forfar began to realise that it just wasn’t going to be their day at the Excelsior.  This was confirmed in the final minute when Ross Campbell saw a shot blocked after yet another frantic scramble in the home penalty box.

Even though they were defeated, the Loons kept pushing forward at every opportunity and they did not lose heart despite it being apparent that the ball was just not going to run kindly for them.  The effort and desire was there and yet again this season they left the Excelsior Stadium wondering why they did not get something out of the game.  Having said that, you have to consider that an away victory against Ayr followed by this defeat has still yielded one more point than a potentially morale boosting ‘two games undefeated away from home’ statistic.  Opinion will no doubt be divided about what is better.

Match Report by Cameron Davidson