Forfar Athletic 2 Albion Rovers 0

Saturday 5 February 2022
Station Park, Forfar
SPFL cinch League 2

 A double helping of Andy Munro headers saw Forfar battle past Albion Rovers amidst terrible conditions. 

 Gary Irvine was the first to admit the match lacked in quality: “It was far from a classic and that’s being very kind. I imagine it was a tough watch for the supporters. The conditions, particularly the wind made it very difficult for both teams. It was scrappy and a battle but fortunately we adapted to the conditions the best and took advantage of the wind to get our goals. Anything that came off the deck was just a scrap. It was very difficult to keep hold of the ball but we came away with the three pints and that’s all that matters.” Said the player manager. 

 It was indeed a quiet affair. Andy Munro was the difference as he netted his seventh and eighth goals of the season after getting on the end of two Craig Slater deliveries on seven and 73 minutes. The hour or so in between was unremarkable to say the least. Only Rovers' David Wilson could threaten either goal as he curled a shot from the edge of the area just past McCallum’s post before the break. 

 The game did improve slightly after the Loons extended their lead. Munro was chasing his hattrick and had another header cleared off the line before Scott Shepherd was inches away from converting the returning Craig Thomson’s cross. 

 No third goal would come though for the Athies who stretched their cushion in second place in the cinch League 2 table to four points, a fact Irvine was keen to play down. “It’s always a bonus when you come off after a win to see other teams slip up but we can only focus on ourselves and it was very important to pick up the three points today. We had to bounce back after Monday night because we let our standards slip in the first half and couldn’t rescue the points. Going into next week we just need to keep it going and try and build up a bit of momentum again. We’ve got a few new faces so they will have time to bed in and we will go in to the game against Cowdenbeath with confidence, aiming to win again.”

 Ross Meechan and his men now head to Fife to take on bottom of the league Cowdenbeath and with both Annan and Kelty on Scottish Cup duty, the incentive is there to further enhance our league position.  

 Forfar Athletic 

1 McCallum

2 Meechan

19 Munro ⚽️ 7' ⚽️ 73'

6 Whyte

26 Brindley

17 McCluskey ? Crossan 59'

10 Slater

12 Hutton ? Warnock 85'

11 G Anderson ? Thomson 60'

9 Aitken ? Moore 80'

18 Shepherd

 Substitutes

3 Strachan

7 Thomson

15 Hussain

16 1Sanderson

22 Moore

23 Irvine

24 Crossan

25 Fisher

Albion Rovers 

1 Binnie

2 Lynas

4 McGowan

5 Fagan

3 Malcolm

7 Wilson

8 Wilson

6 Leslie

11 Reilly ? Roberts 74'

10 Jack ? Wright 81'

9 Doherty ? Byrne 75'

Subs

12 Roberts

14 Robinson

15 Trialist 

16 Wright

17 Stone

18 Fernie

19 Byrne

Referee: Steven Reid

Attendance: 423