Annan Athletic v Forfar Athletic – match preview

The ‘Loons’ head for Dumfriesshire on Saturday afternoonto ‘cross’ swords’ with Annan Athletic at Galabank.

Following on from finishing in second and third places respectively last season in the cinch league2 final standings and then both failing to gain promotion, neither Forfar Athletic or Annan would have expected in all probability to have only gained one win and a draw from their opening five league fixtures this time round.

That though is where both sides find themselves going into match day six of the campaign and there is no doubt that both Peter Murphy the man in charge at Annan and Gary Irvine will be going in to Saturday’s contest dearly hoping for a win to get their league season back on track.

There is also the possibility of the loser if there is one on Saturday occupying the bottom spot in the table come 4.50p.m., but we will move on quickly from that prospect!

To say Gary Irvine’s playing resources were stretched last weekend would be an understatement with a handful of players namely Tarek Abed, Nathan Flanagan, Yussuf Hussain, Craig Thomson and Darren Whyte all reporting unfit.

All have been receiving treatment this week alongside a couple of others who picked up knocks against Stenhousemuir and a few were in light training mode on Thursday evening.

A last minute assessment and team selection would appear to be on the cards for Saturday.

The Station Park gaffer though did not utilise this situation as an excuse in his after match summation of the defeat from the ‘Warriors’ and there is no doubt he will be looking for a vast improvement in the overall performance this time round.

The management team have also continued their pursuit of players who might be available on a temporary transfer throughout the week without success, but the window for loan players arriving on the scene remains open until the 30^th of September for clubs at our level.

Annan’s current position is a strange one, considering they won a Premier Sports Cup group in July that included St. Johnstone, Ayr United and Queen of the South, their reward a last sixteen home tie with Aberdeen on Tuesday past which they only lost 4-1 as the part-timers legs went in extra time.

Whether they will show any reaction to those exertions on Saturday, only time will tell?

The Galabank management team made eight close season signings, although unlike twelve months back, only one of them was from the Cumbria/ North Lancashire area that they ‘plundered’ back then.

Max Kilsby on loan from nearby Carlisle United was the player in question this time round and he was one of the four summer new faces that were in Tuesday’s starting line-up.

The Loons and Annan in fact met six times last term.

In the four league outings, Forfar won three and drew one with an aggregate score line of 11-3 in their favour.

However when it came to the crunch it was Annan who progressed to the play-off final.

After losing the semi-final first leg by a solitary counter on ‘foreign soil’, a last minute penalty equaliser broke Forfar hearts four days later at Station Park back in early May, as the visitors moved on to the two legged final clash with Edinburgh City.

Saturday’s relatively crucial encounter, though one has to remember there are still another thirty games left to play will be refereed by George Calder who was the man in the middle only last midweek for Kelty’s visit to the ‘toonie.’

Admission prices at Annan are £14 for adults, £10 for over 65’s and under 16’s.   Under 12’s accompanied by a paying adult are admitted free.   Cash turnstiles are available on the day.

Saturday’s other cinch league 2 fixtures are;-East Fife v Dumbarton, Elgin City v Bonnyrigg Rose, Stenhousemuir v Stranraer, Stirling Albion v Albion Rovers