Annan Athletic 0 Forfar Athletic 2

Forfar Athletic travelled to Galabank on Saturday looking for 3 important points against Annan Athletic who sat 5 places above the Loons in the league before kickoff. Both new signings Seb Ross and Adam Hutchinson started on what was a day of all seasons weather-wise, cold, rainy, sunny and constantly windy. The Loons played into the heavy wind in the first half.

Forfar started brightly adapting to the conditions well and playing good passing football on the slick Galabank surface. The Loons were rewarded on 8 minutes following intricate link up play, Craig Slater scoring as Stefan McCluskey laid it on a plate for the captain to slot it home. Annan Athletic 0-1 Forfar Athletic.

This settled the Loons and they continued to play at a pace Annan couldn't handle, Mark Docherty had a chance just 8 minutes later to double their lead but his right-footed shot from outside the box was too high and didn't trouble the Annan's keeper.

Annan started to find their rhythm midway through the first half and were using the wind to their advantage with a few high balls into the box causing the away supporters to feel nervous however debutant Adam Hutchinson and Loons 'rock' Andy Munro were solid at the heart of the defence. Craig Slater and Stefan McCluskey were proving to be a handful for the Annan defence as the game opened up, both had chances following great work down the wings from fellow debutant Seb Ross and Craig Thomson however both were just off target.

Marc McCallum, who has been in fine form of late, made an outstanding point-blank, reactionary save to keep the Loons in front around the 40-minute mark, much to the relief of the travelling support. It wasn't long before they were cheering again though, Mark Docherty put the away team two nil up with a deflected right foot shot past the keeper on 43 minutes. Surely this would see the Loons safely down the tunnel at halftime for a well-deserved rest?

Annan had other thoughts and pushed straight from the restart looking to reduce the deficit. A speculative ball into the box dropped and the referee adjudged a close range shot to strike the hand of Andy Munro. Penalty to Annan right on the stroke of halftime - cometh the hour cometh the man - Marc McCallum saves the well-struck penalty from Aidan Smith, diving to his left to maintain the Loons 2 goal advantage.

Halftime Annan Athletic 0-2 Forfar Athletic.

The second half had a lot to live up to following the excitement of the first and again it was Forfar who started brightest, however, the Loons were forced into a quick substitution and a slight change in formation with Callum Moore coming on for injured Tomas Brindley on 53 minutes. With the wind behind them Forfar pushed for a third, Craig Slater won a free kick which he took himself and came close to scoring on 58 minutes, his free kick curled just over the bar.

Annan made a double substitution as they clearly pushed to retrieve something from the game which became very scrappy. Neither team seemed to be able to hold onto the ball and with challenges flying in the referee started brandishing yellow cards, both Stefan McCluskey and Roberto Nditi who again had put in a sterling performance picking up yellows for the visitors.

Marc McCallum was called into action a few times as Forfar were under pressure but the defence stood strong and the keeper handled anything Annan threw at them. James Keatings came on for Seb Ross who had shown great flair on his debut on 76 minutes with Keatings leading the front line but he never had any chances to add the third goal and McKinnon’s men saw out a 3rd win in 4 comfortably.

Full-time Annan Athletic 0-2 Forfar Athletic

This was a great win for the Loons on the road which Ray Mckinnon and the players were delighted with. They had controlled the game from the first half and saw out the second half securing the valuable 3 points which saw them climb the league to 8th place but only 6 points off third place.

Its a tight league and we welcome league leaders Dumbarton to Station Park next Saturday, kick off is 3pm.

We hope a big support turns up to cheer on the Loons as we continue to push for a playoff place this season.

C'mon the Loons.