Forfar Athletic 0 Dumbarton 0

SPFL

League 1 - Match Day 1

Saturday 17 October 2020, Station Park, Forfar

A goalless stalemate might have been the end-result of Forfar’s first league fixture since March 7th, but appearances, as so often, can be misleading. Deprived of as many as four key defenders through injury and Covid-19 self-isolation — Michael Travis, Darren Whyte, Steven Anderson and Kyle Dalling - Loons boss Stuart Malcolm left Station Park happy enough, especially that his depleted squad came away from the match with a clean-sheet. For the ex-centre-back, that positive outweighed any mild frustration at not winning a game in which most of the good things on display came from the home team.

“I thought the back-four were excellent,” said Malcolm. “I can’t fault their efforts or their attitudes. Maybe we can make better decisions at times. That’s definitely something we can work on. Take today. We should have won the game and I would argue we were a bit unlucky not to do so. We should have been one up, maybe two, at half-time. But Jim Duffy’s teams are typically very difficult to play against. And that was certainly the case today.”

Indeed, over the first 20-25 minutes especially, Forfar were clearly the dominant side. A number of fast-moving attacks produced openings that, on another day, might have seen the Loons forwards notch up at least two goals. Only a superb save by Dumbarton’s Polish keeper Macies Dabrowski kept the score-sheet blank. And minutes later, it was the linesman’s flag that came to the visitor’s rescue.

The second-half was less promising, however. And by the end, both sides were doing a better and better job of all but cancelling-out each other’s attacking efforts.

“We were definitely the better team in the first half,” continued Malcolm. “We created a wee bit more than did Dumbarton. But after the break, the game deteriorated and became a bit scrappy. We struggled to get the ball into the areas we knew would hurt the opposition. We were still well in contention. We could still have won the game. And our focus was always on victory. My substitutions were all attacking.

“But the longer the game goes - though you never stop trying to win - you have to consider the chance that they might score. So I was pleased with the way we handled the closing stages. Last season we had a tendency to lose late goals. I didn’t see any sign of that out there today. We have moved on from the sort of demises we saw earlier in the year. And that’s a big progression.”

What didn’t change after half-time was Forfar’s commitment in defence. While loathe to single out individuals, Malcolm was quick to pay tribute to the shifts put in by Gary Irvine, Ross Meechan and recent loan-signing from Dundee, Sam Fisher. All three were outstanding in dealing with the numerous six-footers dotted throughout the Dumbarton squad.

“Ross was a real leader today,” said Malcolm, of his former teammate when both were at Stenhousemuir. “His attitude and commitment are first-class. We can rely on his experience. Which is so important at the moment. Injuries have forced us into reshuffling our pack. But the lads who have come in have done so well. Young Sam looked really good out there. Dundee have high hopes for him and rightly so. It is clear he can go on to play at a higher level.

“Dumbarton do have some big units in their line-up. Which is why they like set-pieces. And Ross Forbes’ left foot whipped in some great crosses. So we had to defend well. We left three men up the park when they had a corner or a free-kick in a threatening position, just to counteract how many bodies they could actually put into the box. I’m always pleased with a clean sheet. They get you points. Not conceding is so important. If we’re not going to win games, we still have to make sure we don’t lose them.”

Next up for the Loons is a trip to Falkirk. “A big test,” according to Malcolm. And it will be. But on today’s evidence, the battling Loons look more than ready to take on one of the favourites for promotion from division one.