Match Report

MATCH REPORT
Forfar Athletic v Stenhousemuir at Station Park, Forfar on 23.02.19
SPFL Ladbrokes League One Att 492
Forfar Athletic 2 [Bain 50, Baird 63] Stenhousemuir 1 [Hurst 71]

Forfar Athletic – McCallum [b83] Meechan, Eckersley, Whyte, Travis, Irvine, Hilson, Bain, Baird [Aitken 86], Easton [Moore 76] and Spencer [Mackintosh 76]. Subs not used – Coupe, Malone, Scott and Hoban.

Stenhousemuir – Smith, Reid, Donaldson [Gibbons 73], Marsh, Ferry [Duthie 62], McGuigan, Cook, Dingwall [Watters 86], Hurst, Munro and McBrearty. Subs not used – Halleran, Dickson and McMinn.

Referee – David Dickinson Assistants – Kylie Cockburn and Steven MacDonald.

Forfar showed their intent early in the game and went on the attack from the first whistle. Alan Reid did well to read and intercept a John Baird back heel in the first minute but he was to struggle in the early stages against Dylan Easton. The wide player coming close to setting up a goal on a couple of occasions. The first through a driven cross in the seventh minute that just needed a touch by a Forfar forward and a minute later he turned Reid inside out before picking out Dale Hilson and Graeme Smith had to be at his best to keep the effort from going in.

It wasn’t one- way traffic though as in the second minute Alan Cook had forced Forfar to concede a corner from which Greg Hurst fired over the bar.

Gradually though the game settled down with the closest that the Warriors came to opening the scoring was through a David Marsh header that went wide from a Cook cross midway through the first half. Realistically though the effort wasn’t going to trouble Forfar keeper Marc McCallum as it lacked power as well as direction.

Forfar were to have the best chance though in the last minute Baird was set up for a shot but the striker fired over from 15 yards out.
Nevertheless the momentum that Forfar created at the end of the half continued after the resumption and they were unlucky not to take the lead in the 48th minute when a cute shot by Jamie Bain was tipped on to the bar by Smith before bouncing the right side of the line for Stenhousemuir.

Bain was not to wait long for his goal though as he shot through a ruck of players and into the net from the edge of the box two minutes later.

Forfar were fairly composed at this time but McCallum did well to push out a raking Cook shot just after the hour mark. The Loons though were to double their lead in the 63rd minute and it was ex-Warrior Baird who was the marksman as he combined with Hilson before tucking the ball into the net.

Stenhousemuir sub Conner Duthie livened up the visitors attack and he tested McCallum with a long range effort that the keeper just managed to push out. In the 73rd minute Duthie was the creator of the Stenhousemuir goal when he swung a pinpoint cross to Mark McGuigan and although the striker was denied by a top class save from McCallum he was unable to keep Hurst’s strike from the rebound out.

With ten minutes left a Cook cross almost had a similar outcome but the faintest of touches by Darren Whyte did enough to take the cross away slightly from McGuigan who still managed to guide it towards goal only to be denied by another top drawer save by McCallum. He then punched a Duthie effort out as the Warriors fought for the equaliser. The keeper was booked for timewasting as the game progressed but despite Stenhousemuir’s best efforts they were unable to get the vital goal and indeed might have conceded another goal when subs Lewis Moore and Matthew Aitken combined but the latter shot wide when it looked easier to score in the 87th minute. Forfar though wouldn’t mind too much though as they held on for all three points.