Loons Leave it Late to Take Derby Honours

Forfar Athletic 2 Brechin City 1

Forfar won the battle of Angus in injury time following a dramatic final five minutes of play.

Brechin arrived at Station Park in the knowledge that victory would give them a huge 9 point cushion over their local rivals and cement them in 2nd place. Both sides must have expected a tough match, and the punters who turned up in baltic conditions would have expected more entertainment than was on offer in a poor first half.

Nelson was the first keeper to be called into action when he got down low to save a Fotheringham 25 yard free kick awarded after Ross Campbell was felled in the middle of a mazy run. Former Loon Kevin Byers then tested Gallacher from 20 yards, but it was safe hands in the home goal. The visitors then created two great chances in the space of a minute. A short pass found Molloy and he fired in a good effort which flashed just past the post. Then another short pass split the Forfar defence and McAllister homed in on goal with only Gallacher to beat, he shot low and the home keeper did well to stop the effort.

Goalmouth incidents were very limited for the remainder of the half with neither side able to create any decent chances.

The second half started more brightly and it was the Loons who were soon on the attack. Templeman won the ball 20 yards out and his through ball was partially blocked however the ball fell to Fotheringham who fired in on target only to see his effort deflected away to safety. Despite Forfar enjoying the majority of the play it was the visitors who took the lead after 64 minutes. A corner was only half cleared to the feet of Kirkpatrick and his deep cross was flicked home by the head of Molloy.

As the clock ticked down Forfar kept plugging away trying to unlock the Brechin defence, The Loons won a series of corners in the final minutes and Iain Campbell's crosses were causing the defence problems, and when Templeman headed against the woodwork, the ball was only cleared behind for yet another corner. Campbell delivered well and this time Templeman powered home a header from 6 yards.

With the majority of the crowd still on a high from the equaliser Forfar piled forward and the ball found its way to Templeman who brilliantly worked it to the bye line and cut it across to Sellars who shot from six yards, Nelson managed to palm the ball away, but only as far as Ross Campbell who prodded it home for the winner.

For the second time in as many games Campbell has grabbed a very important goal deep into injury time, which shows the current never say die attitude within the team, and this bodes well for the remainder of the season.

Match Report by Kevin Brown