MATCH PREVIEW: Brechin City v Forfar Athletic
[Thursday, 19 March 2015 16:22]
A clash between City and the ‘Loons’ is always a mouth watering prospect, but that is even more the case this week, with the local rivals due to meet at Glebe Park on Saturday in one of the most important derbies for both sides in many a long day.
Both sides go into the fixture still harbouring real hopes of making the step up to the SPFL Championship in May either by winning the League One title direct or through the intense Play-Off ‘battle.’
Forfar go into the game with a slight edge sitting in third spot in the table, a place and four points above their hosts. However Ray McKinnon’ side do have a game in hand, Peterhead due to be their opponents in that particular fixture on Tuesday evening of next week.
Back to Saturday’s match and Dick Campbell and his players will make the short journey up the A90 in good heart following a hard fought but in the end deserved victory over Stranraer last weekend.
Skipper Gavin Swankie netted a superb goal to clinch those three points and he will again no doubt be the visitor’s talisman. Stuart Malcolm sits the game out through suspension, but that apart, the Station Park management team have no new injury worries. Whether any change is made to last Saturday’s starting line-up is unknown, but perhaps unlikely. However six of the seven who were on the bench against the men from Stair Park got game time under their belt in Tuesday night’s emphatic Development League performance.
Brechin whose highly impressive seventeen game unbeaten run came to an end at the Balmoor Stadium last Saturday will welcome back Craig Molloy and Paul McLean both of whom served one game suspensions in that fixture. Left sided defender Colin Hamilton shown a red card for two bookable offences in that game though is banned, while rumour has it that Alan Trouten a key figure in Brechin’s victory at Station Park in early January will miss out through injury.
Both sides have a victory ‘under their belt’ in the three games between the sides so far this term and to be fair very emphatic ones a that.
The ‘Loons’ fully merited their 3-1 success at Station Park in September, Dale Hilson with a brace and Danny Denholm their marksmen on the day.
However on January 3rd, City totally dominated the ninety minutes on their return visit to the ‘toonie’ and the eventual winning margin of 2-0, perhaps even flattered the home side.
The Glebe Park meeting in November was a heart stopping affair which saw the sides share six goals, the home side having raced into a two goal lead, only for the visitors to in fact take a 3-2 advantage midway through the second period, before Trouten netted the leveller with seven minutes remaining.
Both Dick Campbell and Ray McKinnon have commented in the press in recent weeks about how both sides have undoubtedly punched above their weight this season and of course what promises to be a titanic ninety minutes on Saturday may not be the last meeting of the sides this season. Only time will tell!
However both sets of players deserve a full turn out and the total backing of their fans come 3 pm on Saturday.
It would be a great boost to the officials of both clubs who put so much effort into running their respective clubs if for the second game in succession between them, a four figure crowd could be achieved.
The home treasurer would no doubt also rejoice with a glass or ‘three.’
Referee for the fixture is the highly experienced Premier League official Alan Muir from Glasgow.