Both Sides Have a Point to Prove in Stalemate

Forfar Athletic 0 East Fife 0

Station Park was open for business for the first time in almost three months on Tuesday evening as Forfar entertained East Fife.

With Tulloch suffering from a knee injury and Fotheringham moved to the bench, two changes from the line up that started against Dumbarton were made - McCulloch and Deasley stepping forward.

The first half, although goalless, was an exciting affair. The visitors were first out of the blocks and an accurate Linn cross was nodded goal wards by Hamilton, but only into the arms of Gallacher. Forfar's first real attack came after 10 minutes when Ross Campbell was robbed of a Deasley through ball and a corner was awarded. From the resultant set piece Bolochoweckyj headed into the side net with Brown beaten.
Ten minutes later and the Loons came even closer to opening the scoring when Deasley struck a 20 yard effort against the woodwork. Despite Forfar enjoying the majority of possession, it was East Fife who created the better of the chances in the remainder of the half. David Muir swept a midfield ball onto the left flank which Craig Johnston connected with and delivered onto the head of Hamilton, the experienced player was in space as he headed inches wide with Gallacher seemingly beaten. On the stroke of half time a close range strike from Johnston was brilliantly saved by the Forfar custodian.

The visitors were quick to go on the attack after the restart and looked to have broken the deadlock when Hislop headed goal wards only to see his effort cleared off the line. Mid way through the second half and the Fifers were awarded a penalty after Muir was felled by Brady. Sloan stepped up and fired strongly but Forfar's number one got down well and parried the shot to safety.
A minute later and the Boss decided to make a double swap with the departing Brady and Templeman making way for Fotheringham and Hilson.
The final 15 minutes saw Forfar come increasingly close to breaking the deadlock. After Hilson was fouled on the edge of the area, Iain Campbell lifted his free kick over the defensive wall and just over the crossbar. Moments later and Bishop drilled the ball across goal and his effort hit Forfar's third substitute Gibson with the ball speeding into the arms of Brown on the goal line.
Deep into injury time Fotheringham collected an Iain Campbell pass, turned his marker and split the defence with a through ball for Hilson to chase. The speedy forward rounded the on-rushing Brown and cut the ball back to Fotheringham who could not keep his shot down from close range and the match ended goalless.

A draw was a fair result, and with Forfar continuing to pick up points there is optimism on the terraces that this season could see another play off situation come May.

Match Report by Kevin Brown