Elgin City 2 Forfar Athletic 0

The Loons headed north to a sunny Borough Briggs in search of three points to boost their play off aspirations but returned to Angus with nothing after an uncharacteristically flat performance.

Kane Hester fired a warning shot when he found space after four minutes but could only hit Marc McCallum in goal.

Hester wouldn’t need another invitation and fired City in front before the clock ticked on to 9 minutes. He received the ball in space and twisted and turned before curling into the corner from the edge of the box.

Things got worse for the Loons ten minutes later. Elgin broke down the left before McCallum made an excellent save to deny Hester but Aaron Reid was on hand to slot home via the post.

Hester would have a chance to kill the game off just before half time but was again denied smartly by McCallum.

The Loons showed some fight at the start of the second half and Craig Thomson caused more problems for the hosts. He had a volley saved and a low effort fizz just wide shortly after the break.

Ben Armour had Forfar’s best chance to score when Finn Robson found him with a cutback but his goal bound shot was snubbed out and Mark Docherty curled the recycled effort narrowly wide after 79 minutes.

The game fizzled out from there and the sizeable away crowd was left to make the long journey home disappointed.

Next Saturday presents McKinnon’s men with a chance to bounce back when they host Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic where a win may boost the Loons back into fourth place.