Stalemate at the Rock Leaves Loons in Third

Dumbarton 0 Forfar Athletic 0

Forfar ended their scheduled season recording a draw at the Strathclyde Homes Stadium.

David Mowat and Iain Campbell started the match in place of Ross Campbell and Darren Brady. 

The match had an "end of season" feel about it throughout and clear cut chances were few and far between.  Brian Deasley and Iain Campbell combined well after 4 minutes and although a cross was delivered towards Gibson it was easily cleared. The home side then had 2 long range efforts at goal in the space of 5 minutes, both sailing past the target. The Loons were next to try their luck from long range when Barry Sellars fired in a low free kick after Deasley had been upended.  Deasley was soon on his feet again and attacking the Sons defence. He beat two defenders before laying the ball off for Greg Ross to cross over to Callum Smith who headed straight at Grindlay. The best move of the half came just before half time when Halsman and Geggan worked well down the left flank and set up Walker whose effort was palmed over the bar by Duffy.

The second period began in torrential conditions, and with Dumbarton on the attack. Walker fired into the side netting from a narrow angle on the right and McNiff collected a long throw in before turning and shooting narrowly over from 25 yards out. Next a Devlin deep cross found Walker in space close to goal and his first timed effort was well saved by Duffy. Forfar then broke well when Tulloch intercepted on the half way line and fed a pass to Smith, Callum chested the ball, turned and slipped it though to Hilson who was one-on-one with Grindlay, unfortunately the stand side official flagged for offside.

With 15 minutes remaining a low cross from substitute Dow cleared the home defence and Tulloch came close to guiding the ball home. Minutes later, Bishop and Walker were lucky only to receive a talking to from the referee after an altercation where a punch appeared to be thrown at the Forfar defender. The final chance of the match came Forfar's way after a one-two between Ross and Hilson saw Ross ping over a cross for Sellars, who was unmarked, and headed past the gaping goal.

So, there we have it, thirty six matches have come and gone, and Forfar finish third. Over the next week the Loons will face Ayr Utd in the semi finals of the play offs and I sincerely hope they get the support they deserve from the Forfar public.

Exciting times - c'mon the Loons !

Match Report by Kevin Brown