Forfar Athletic 3 v Stenhousemuir 4

SPFL cinch League 2

Saturday 26 December 2021

Station Park

Not surprisingly, manager Gary Irvine looked and sounded less than happy at the end of this one. On a day when league leaders Kelty Hearts had gone down to their first defeat of the season, Forfar’s 4-3 loss to Stenhousemuir at Station Park meant the seven-point deficit at the top of the table remains unchanged. It also saw the end of the Loons’ unbeaten home league record. So there wasn’t much festive cheer after a match that saw the home side go in at half-time 4-1 down.

  “This was a real disappointment,” sighed Irvine. “Especially when I see results elsewhere. But in the first half we were a massive disappointment. The way we conceded the goals gave us a massive uphill battle. It just wasn’t us in the first 45 minutes. To be fair, after a big talk at half-time, the players came out in the second-half and gave me a big reaction. But there was just far too much to do. What lost us the game today was the poor goals we gave away. That’s where my real disappointment lies.

  Indeed, on the back of an impressive 4-0 victory at Edinburgh City in their last outing, few would have predicted such a score-line, the home side conceding at regular intervals during a haphazard opening 45-minutes. 

  “There was so much wrong in the first-half,” continued Irvine. “I could go through the goals. For the first one, yes, there was a bit of quality from Ross Forbes’ left-foot. He hit a nice ball into our box but defensively we should deal with it a lot better, both positionally and through being braver in meeting the ball. Without being too harsh, Sam Fisher needs to deal with that better.  

  “The third goal was the biggest disappointment for me. They pulled us all over the pitch. Forbes made a run behind our right-back and it was their right-back who put the ball into the net. That shows you how much they pulled us about the place. We just weren’t communicating as a back-four. We were too easy to play through, which is not something we’ve been guilty of this season. That confused me. Which is why I was asking big questions at half-time.”

  Those queries did provoke some positive responses in a second-half dominated by Forfar. Two goals in quick succession brought hope of a remarkable revival, but it wasn’t quite to be.

  “It was a weird feeling after the game,” said Irvine. “In the second-half we just lacked that last bit of quality to get the ball in the back of the net a third time. We had our chances though. One fell to Steven Doris. And there was another when the ball was bouncing about in the box after a set-play. We had a few good deliveries right on top of their keeper. So that was frustrating. 

  “It may sound daft, but all I could say to the players at the end was how positive the second-half had been. But I want them to hurt after this. I want them to want to win every game. I want them to take positives from this. And that is how they approached the second-half. They knew the first-half wasn’t good enough though. They knew that was way below our standards. But they showed that second-half. And now we need to take that into next week.”

  More specifically, Forfar’s next outing is away to Elgin City on January 2, before which Irvine is hopeful that some significant absentees for this match will make welcome returns. 

  “It’s been a tough week, as was obvious from today’s line-up,” said the Forfar boss. “We were missing some players that have a big part of our season so far. Ross Meechan and Stefan McCluskey both tested positive for Covid and Callum Moore is also isolating after a member of his family tested positive. So it wasn’t ideal. They all played a big part in the win at Edinburgh City last week. And Ross and Stefan have played the most minutes for us over the whole season. They’ve been big players for us. 

  “There is no way I’m using any of that as an excuse. I’m the first to say I’m confident in my squad. I have a group and have built a squad that provides cover when players are out. They all work hard every week so that they are able to slot in. So that wasn’t the reason we lost today.”

  There was one big positive too. Long-time injury victim Darren Whyte’s appearance on the bench was a sure sign that the big defender is close to contending for a spot in the starting line-up. 

  “It’s good to see Darren back in the running again,” confirmed Irvine. “He was going to be part of the squad at Edinburgh but a PCR Test result took too long to come back. But it was nice to get him back on the bench today. It’s a confidence boost for him. He was involved in the warm-up. He’s preparing for games. And we’ll keep working him hard. So that’s all positive.

  “Elgin next week is another tough one. We had a hard time with them up there last time. We’ll work hard in training this week and look to rectify what went wrong out there today. We need to get back on track.”

Forfar Athletic 

1 McCallum

25 Fisher ⚽️ 11'

19 Munro ? 28' ⚽️ 57'

4 S Anderson

3 Strachan

11 G Anderson ? Harkins 66'

14 Thomas

10 Slater

24 Crossan ? Doris 82'

9 Aitken

18 Shepherd ⚽️ 54' ? 59' 

Substitutes

6 Whyte

12 Doris

15 Hussain

16 Gallagher

20 Harkins

21 Sanderson

23 Irvine

Stenhousemuir 

20 Wilson 

15 Corbett ⚽️ 5' ⚽️ 32'

4 Tapping ? 19' ?  Coll 75'

5 Crighton ? 60'

2 Lyon

6 Wedderburn

24 Miller

14 Christie ? Brown 81'

7 Forbes ?19' ⚽️ 24' ⚽️ '43 (pen)

16 O'Reilly

9 Orr

Substitutes

1 Marshall

11 Brown

12 Lyon

18 Coll

22 Tierney

Referee: Scott Lambie

Attendance: 411