Forfar Athletic 1 Cowdenbeath 0

Forfar opened their Viaplay Cup campaign with a narrow but comfortable victory over Lowland League Cowdenbeath.

The visitors however made life difficult for Forfar in the early stages as the Loons struggled to evade their relentless pressing. The opener came after the first real spell of pressure for the hosts. Some nice passing found Callum Moore in space and when his pass broke for Kieran Inglis, he made no mistake and rifled a shot in off the keeper’s left hand post.

Jamie Docherty passed up the fifers only chance of the opening period when he fired straight at Marc McCallum following a nice passing move.

Inglis should have had his and Forfar’s second shortly before the break. Seb Ross did brilliantly on the wing to pick out the former Brechin man in acres of space in the box but he blazed over the bar with the goal gaping.

Josh Skelly fired a free kick just wide of the post just after the break as the Loons continued on the front foot.

Seb Ross passed up the best opportunity for the Athies to kill the game off when he fizzed a shot narrowly wide after being played through by Callum Moore.

Skelly again came close when Moore’s shot was parried to him but the angle just got the better of the front man and the ball fizzed across the six yard box.

The Blue Brazil looked to punish their hosts for the missed opportunities and forced McCallum into a smart stop with his feet midway through the second period.

The visitors failed to enact any real pressure on the Forfar goal after that and it was their former player, Skelly, who came closest to finding the second. First with a header from eight yards out which he nodded over the bar after the ball popped up into the air and then with the last kick of the ball he latched on to a loose backwards header but fired his shot over the bar.

The victory sees Forfar sit in top spot of Group H, albeit based on Alphabetical order after Montrose’s sensational victory over St Mirren. McKinnon’s men travel to the Gable Endies on Tuesday with spirits high for the first of two back to back Angus derbies.