Forfar Athletic 1 Stenhousemuir 3

Forfar slipped to a successive league defeat with a lackluster performance against Stenhousemuir.

The Loons, however, started brightly and should have taken the lead after seven minutes. Euan Mutale glided round his man and found Ryan Paterson with time and space in the box but his shot was tipped over by the Stenny keeper.

Paterson wasn’t left ruing his mistake for long, however. His ball from the resultant corner caused problems and eventually broke for Roberto Nditi on the edge who lashed a shot towards goal. The ball was blocked on the line but Stuart Morrison was on hand to tap the ball home from all of two yards.

The goal was no less than the hosts deserved but quickly the tide turned. Marc McCallum was forced into a smart stop after a flick from Matty Yates. Tomas Brindley made a fantastic block to deny the follow-up.

Stenny leveled just three minutes before the interval. An overhit cross from Kinlay Bilham was turned back in at the Euan O’Reilly and Stuart Morrison’s clearance hit off Matty Aitken for a fortunate equaliser.

The Loons collapsed at the start of the second period. First, O’Reilly combined with Aitken to find space on the wing. His powerful shot from a wide angle went through the arms of Marc McCallum and into the net just three minutes after the restart.

The miserable start to the second half was completed after 52 minutes when Finn Robson misjudged a throw-in and the ball struck his arm inside the penalty box. Aitken stepped up to slot in his second.

The rest of the game passed without incident. Forfar failed to lay a glove on Stenny as they chased the game and the visitors were content to sit on their two-goal lead.

The Loons must pick themselves up and dust themselves down for a crucial home clash with Clyde next week before a tricky spell of three away days on the bounce begins.