Locality Hub Bayview Stadium
Saturday 20 August 2022
SPFL cinch League 2
There are, of course, many painful ways to lose football matches. But it’s hard to imagine one hurting more than how Forfar Athletic went down to East Fife at the New Bayview Stadium. With the score goalless in injury time, a tackle by Loons midfielder Callum Moore on the home side’s Joao Balde was deemed illegal by referee Barry Cook, the resulting penalty slotted home by substitute Alan Trouten.
So this was a sore one for all concerned with the Loons, none more so than manager Gary Irvine.
“I’m still a bit numb,” said Irvine minutes after the final whistle. “It was a bad decision by Callum - and their player was clever too - but the ball was at a horrible height, one that made it difficult for him to make any kind of contact. He should have been aware of the player coming in and know that you just can’t make challenges like that in the box. But it was a severe punishment. As much as we had control of the game and consistently got ourselves into good areas, we didn’t test the keeper enough.”
Indeed, as Irvine went on to admit, the lack of an end-product was at least as frustrating as the foul that led to the winning goal. This was a game Forfar did not deserve to lose, but that the team did not win had as much to do with their own decision-making as anything produced by East Fife. While there was a lack of clear-cut chances, opportunities to score were spurned.
“We have created a few things,” continued Irvine. “But I’m expecting a lot more. I have to be harsh on my players and on my self because I have such big expectations with the group I’ve put together. We shouldn’t be coming off the pitch losing. I had full confidence that the team I put out today would be going home with three points. And that is what should have happened.”
In mitigation, the Loons are currently, and yet again, suffering from a number of injuries to defensive players. In the absence of Darren Whyte - who may need more than the next week to recover from his latest knock - Yusuf Hussain stepped into the centre of defence alongside Andy Munro. But not for long. Midway through the first half the big no.15 was forced off, to be replaced by Kyle Hutton.
“Kyle did unbelievably well,” said Irvine, who had actually considered bringing himself on for what would have been his first competitive appearance of the season. “That change rattled us a bit. You could see East Fife got a boost from that. But the bigger problem was, as I said, our decision-making when we did get into good positions further up the pitch.”
On the plus side, the Loons won’t have long to lick their wounds, self-inflicted or not. As soon as Tuesday evening they take on Kelty Hearts in the SPFL Trust Trophy at Station Park.
“That’s a good thing,” confirmed Irvine. “We can have a right good go at correcting the things that didn’t go so well today. When you’ve made mistakes in a game, it’s always good to get onto the pitch again as soon as possible. We all need to work a wee bit harder to create better chances. And not making the same mistakes again. Take Callum today. I would hope that he will learn from what happened and be a better player for it. That’s the sort of progression I want to see. Equally, of course, the players need to accept some accountability on that front. I can only help them so much with advice on the training pitch.”
As ever, not everything was hurting the manager, even if the result went against his side. There were bright spots all over the field. Hutton’s performance drew deserved praise, as did the play of right-back Roberto Nditi. And Nathan Flanagan produced some flashing crosses that, on another day, could have led to goals.
“Nathan did very well,” said Irvine. “Craig Slater battled away in the middle of the pitch. And Kevin Hanratty started really well. He was very positive and looked like he had the beating of their full-back. Maybe we should have got him more of the ball in the second-half. And both full-backs didn’t lose many duels for the ball.”
As ever then, this was a game and a result to look beyond.
“We’re at home on Tuesday and we need to get back to winning ways,” concluded Irvine. “I’ll be looking for a reaction. Today was far from a poor performance, but we were on the receiving end of the wrong result.”
East Fife
1 Fleming
3 Mercer
15 Denham
5 Steele 🟨 79'
2 Murdoch
17 Baldé
19 Ferguson 🔄Trouten 65' ⚽️ 90+1'
4 Millar 🟨 59'
12 Newton
7 Schiavone 🔄 Steven 59'
9 Shepherd 🔄 Healy 78'
Substitutes
6 Murray
8 Slattery
10 Trouten
11 Healy
16 Cunningham
18 Williamson
21 Rollo
22 Steven
Forfar Athletic
1 McCallum
2 Nditi
15 Hussain 🔄 Hutton 29'
19 Munro 🟨 74'
3 Brindley
33 Flanagan
10 Slater 🟨 49'
12 Moore
24 Hanratty 🔄 Jack 77'
11 McCluskey
17 Armour 🔄 Aitken 62'
Substitutes
6 Hutton
8 Jack
9 Aitken
18 Keatings
20 Harkins
21 Sanderson
23 Irvine
Referee: Barry Cook
Attendance: 537
