Montrose 1 Forfar Athletic 3

Montrose (Batchelor 12’)
Forfar Athletic (Inglis 15’) (Moore 26’)  (Trialist 50’)

An impressive performance saw Forfar record a comfortable victory over near neighbours and league cup rivals Montrose in their first pre-season outing.

Forfar started well and had the first-half chance when Craig Thomson blazed over on the edge of the box after a good move.

It was the hosts who got themselves in front in the 12th minute, however. A cross from the right made it all the way to Craig Batchelor who tapped in from close range.

The Loons were straight back in the front foot though. Craig Thomson’s excellent run ended with a fizzed ball across the box and was a sign of things to come.

The Athies were only behind for three minutes. Craig Thomson beat everybody to set up Kieran Inglis. He notched the equaliser and his first goal for the Loons courtesy of a deflected strike from the edge of the box.

Forfar continued to dominate and Stuart Morrison almost had a debut goal but headed just over from a free kick after Seb Ross was fouled.

The second goal came in style in the 26th minute. An excellent flowing move freed Callum Moore on the edge of the box and he made no mistake, curling into the bottom corner.

The second half continued with Forfar in control. Kieran Inglis was denied a second by the goalkeeper after a lovely move freed him on the edge in the 49th minute.

The resultant corner was taken short, then delivered and nodded in by the trialist.

Craig Thomson caused more problems shortly after when his cross was met by the goalscoring trialist but his header was saved well by Mo’ goalkeeper Ross Matthews.

Forfar were playing some fantastic stuff and another flowing move allowed Craig Thomson time on the edge but Matthews was again equal to it.

The 60th minute saw the introduction of Darren Whyte who made his long-awaited return from injury as well as debutant Josh Skelly.

A stream of changes from both sides somewhat killed the flow of the game and skipper Marc McCallum had to be on his toes to make a couple of smart stops late on.

Despite a stop-start end to the game, the Loons' defense held strong and secured an impressive victory against League One opposition.

The boys in blue will be back on home soil a week on Saturday to take on Formartine United as our pre-season preparations continue.