St Mirren 4 Forfar Athletic 0

Forfar came into the final Group H game of the Viaplay Cup against last seasons top 6 Premier League team needing only a single point to secure first place having already comprehensively beaten Arbroath, Montrose and Cowdenbeath.

As the two teams came down the tunnel, they were met with cheers from the two sets of fans and torrential rain which soon turned into an apocalyptic downpour saturating the pitch, however the Loons were greeted by a strong support of around 150 Forfar fans who had made the trip down to Paisley.

Forfar kicked off but were soon under pressure as St Mirren closed down and harried the Loons in midfield and defence not allowing the visitors to settle. The first 10 minutes were mostly St Mirren on the attack being met with strong defence by Forfar.

It wasn't long before the Premier League outfit took the lead with a glancing header from Mandron in the 13th minute from a corner after losing his marker in the box.

Shortly after this early setback, Forfar had a promising counter attack that was quickly snubbed as Skelly was brought down going through on goal, the resulting free-kick was dealt with by the St Mirren defenders.

Mere minutes later (in the 18th minute) Mandron added his second from a simple tap in following excellent build up play from the St Mirren midfielders and strikers with slick one touch passing slicing through the Forfar midfield and defence leaving Mandron to double his tally.

Forfar persevered and launched another attack however Skelly again was fouled in the build up near the edge of the box with Taylor somehow escaping a yellow card. Skelly lined up on his famous left foot however his powerful goal bound free kick produced a fine save by Hemming turning it away for a corner.

It seemed like Forfar were looking a lot more promising and the weather also cleared up as the playing conditions improved for the better. Kieran Inglis played in Josh Skelly for another attack but he was yet again met with solid defending which resulted in another foul. The free kick easily defended by the Saints.

This spell of play was met by a good attack from St Mirren and as they worked the ball into the box Adam Hutchison went in for a challenge on the attacker and unlike Hutchinson he mistimed his challenge leaving the referee no choice but to point to the spot. O’Hara stepped up to take and made no mistake casually sending Marc McCallum the wrong way.

With the half time whistle looming St Mirren built up another attack which resulted in a messy scramble in the box and Gogic managed to poke the ball into Forfar’s net resulting in a fourth for the home team. A real sucker punch to end the first half for the Loons.

Half time- St Mirren 4- Forfar-0

The second half kicked off with Thomson replacing Hutchinson for the Loons but it was St Mirren who were straight away on the attack which resulted in a great save from McCallum.

The next Forfar play seemed like deja vu for them as they tried to build a new attack with the ball coming to Skelly who had been a handful all day was fouled again near the corner flag, somehow the defender not even receiving a yellow card. The resulting free-kick was cleared and started a new attack for St Mirren which led to yet another 1 on 1 with McCallum however he stayed big and produced an excellent save with his feet.

Roberto Nditi was then given a yellow card in the 53rd minute for sliding into a 50/50.

Forfar were looking more promising following halftime Seb Ross was on the attack, however Ross, cutting in on goal, was cynically scythed down by Marcus Fraser which miraculously was not given as a foul despite screams of protest from the Forfar players and fans alike.

St. Mirren continued to press their advantage and in the 62nd minute McCallum again produced another good reaction save from an Olusanya header.

Josh Skelly’s game then ended as he was subbed off in the 67th minute with Watson replacing him. Skelly left the pitch to a standing ovation from the Forfar fans due to his sheer determination throughout his time on the park.

Forfar looked very promising going into the 70th minute as Paterson who’d replaced Robson did excellently to shimmy his way around three St Mirren defenders and won a corner for Forfar. The corner was fired in and met with the head of Matty Allan whose header was saved by Hemming as he managed to push it onto the crossbar, Forfar coming agonisingly close to scoring.

Despite the score line the Forfar fans were still in good spirits and were lifted even higher by seeing the return of Andy Munro as he replaced Brindley on 75 minutes.

Fulltime St Mirren 4 - 0 Forfar Athletic

Loons Manager Ray McKinnon commented after the game “we didn’t start well it looked like we didn’t believe in ourselves but have to be realistic they are a Premier League Club. Any defeat hurts but we gave a better account of ourselves second half and have been really good in the other 3 games and we will carry that confidence and belief into the League starting next week.’