Elgin City v Forfar Athletic – Match Preview

Tomorrow is local derby day in the William Hill League2, but for the ‘Loons’ with no other Tayside or Fife based sides currently within the tier four set up, it brings with it a near 200 mile round trip to face Elgin City.

Jim Weir’s side go into the contest against one of the other SPFL sides he has managed in good heart following a three game unbeaten spell, culminating in a backs to the wall effort of some magnitude in the dying embers of last Saturday’s outing in the Capital City to gain a hard fought point against Edinburgh City.

Following that Meadowbank encounter, the Athies head north tomorrow without the services of two key players. Scott Shepherd serves a one match ban following his second half red card, while Keiran Inglis will be an absentee for at least a couple of weeks following the injury that saw him substituted against the ‘Citizens’ within ten minutes of the first whistle.

The Forfar management are well aware that Elgin away is always a tough assignment as the players will strive to pick up their first three point haul on the road this term. Allan’s Hales side were by all accounts unlucky to lose out by the odd goal in five last weekend at home to Spartans, while in a game that Jim Weir had covered they turned in an excellent performance on home soil a couple of weeks back against Stirling Albion, the final score line on that occasion in City’s favour. Veteran midfield player Ross Draper and Ryan Sargent were the City goal scorers last week, but of course their main strike force is Forfar based Kane Hester now in his second spell with the Morayshire outfit.

Jim Weir was delighted that he was able to bolster his squad further just before the closure of the loan transfer window with the acquisition from Rangers of striker Cormac Christie and Lyle Wark a left sided player equally at home in defence or a midfield berth. Both players have shown ability a plenty in the Rangers Under 19 side this term in particular and with the departure of Chris Scott for personal reasons, the depth of the ‘Loons’ squad remains at a very acceptable level as we head into the closing months of the calendar year.

Stuart Morrison and his ‘troops’ recorded an excellent and at the time vital 1-0 win over Elgin on their last trip north in early Spring and a similar result at the weekend would again be most welcome as the first quarter of the league campaign reaches a conclusion.

Alastair Grieve is Saturday’s man in the middle, the second time this season he will have been in charge of a ‘Loons’ fixture, the first occasion at Spartans back in late August.

Kick-off is at the usual time of 3pm.

Admission charges at Boroughbriggs are as follows;

Stand – Adults £18/Concessions (65 & over and unaccompanied under 16’s) £12
Ground – Adults £16/Concessions as above £10
Under 16’s are admitted free if accompanied by a paying adult.

Tickets can be purchased on line in advance, see Elgin’s official website for full details.

CASH ONLY turnstiles are also available on match day.

Saturday’s other William Hill League2 fixtures;- Clyde v East Kilbride, Stirling Albion v Dumbarton, Stranraer v Annan Athletic, The Spartans v Edinburgh City