Loons Lose Another Four Goals Despite Hard Effort

Arbroath 4 Forfar Athletic 1

 Following Saturday's heavy defeat at East Fife, the Boss made several changes to the starting line up, including the surprise inclusion of Michael Bolochoweckyj to the defensive ranks. Unfortunately this did not stop the stream of goals that are currently being shipped by the Forfar rear guard. Admittedly the defeats suffered at the hands of East Fife and Arbroath weren't as bad as the scorelines suggest, and Forfar have indeed enjoyed large periods of possession during those matches. But one things for sure, the defence need to tighten up, and quickly, plus we need a bit of luck in front of goal.

The home side created the first opening in the match after 6 minutes when player-manager Paul Sheerin crossed over from the wing and Doris rose unmarked and headed wide of the target. A minute later and a long ball was flicked on by Templeman into the path of Chris Hegarty, as Hill came off his line to close Hegarty down, the ball was lobbed over his head and unfortunately over the bar. But Forfar didn't have to wait much longer before taking the lead, and what a goal it was. Iain Campbell received the ball down the flank before sending over an inch perfect cross to BRADLEY COYNE, the youngster controlled the ball before swivelling and volleying it past the stationary Arbroath custodian. Soon after, Nicky Low accepted an Iain Campbell pass and turned two home defenders before drilling an angled shot across the six yard box, the ball took a deflection and went behind for a corner, when a touch in the right direction would have sent the ball goal bound.
 
Arbroath grabbed the equaliser 5 minutes later when a huge punt upfield fell to the feet of COLIN SAMUEL and his pace took him past Joe Shaughnessy and he drilled the ball behind McCallum. Referee Steven Conroy soon caused controversy when he seemingly awarded Arbroath a penalty, much to the astonishment of the whole Forfar defence who protested against his decision. He booked Bolochoweckyj before consulting with his stand side linesman, and eventually awarded Forfar the free kick ! After 33 minutes McAnespie dealt with a Forfar attack by heading backwards towards his own goal, Coyne read the situation well and put him and Hill under pressure, Coyne won the ball, and in a neat move fed it the Low, who in turn fed it to Mowat, his shot had power, but lacked accuracy, and went straight to the keeper. On the stroke of half time, with Forfar on the attack, Arbroath took the lead. Dale Hilson lost the ball on the edge of the home penalty box, and another long clearance found Samuel who released DORIS and he sped forward to slot home goal number two. Thirty seconds later when Shaughnessy made a rare mistake with a clearance, DORIS took advantage and gave the home side a healthy half time lead.

Forfar controlled the vast majority of the first 25 minutes of the second half, but despite this, couldn't find a way back into the game. After 53 minutes Dale Hilson crossed into the danger area and as Templeman and Hill both challenged for the ball, it broke to Low, who shot on target, only for Hill to palm away and McAnespie to clear up. Four minutes later, Hegarty pinged a 20 yard pass across midfield for Low to gather, Nicky beat his marker before crossing for Templeman who saw his header saved on the line by Hill. On the hour mark Low was again making headway down the left and his cross was well met by Coyne, but he directed his effort over the bar. And after a Low corner from the opposite side was headed on target by Shaughnessy, but saved by the Arbroath number one, it was obvious this wasn't Forfar's evening. Victory was sealed for the home side when another Forfar attack broke down and a quick counter attack saw DORIS again out strip the Forfar defence and fire home.

Next up is Albion Rovers, and this is undoubtedly what's known as a "six pointer".

Match Report by Kevin Brown.