Forfar Athletic 0 Dumbarton 2

Forfar fell to a second successive defeat amidst some tricky conditions.

Dumbarton started brightly and thought they had taken the lead after ten minutes but their celebrations were cut short by the linesman’s flag.

The sons forced McCallum in to a smart save with his feet before the Loons got to grips with the wind and came in to the game.

Matty Allan’s cross was just too heavy for Inglis on the half hour mark and Roberto Nditi came close when his cross drifted in the wind and bounced off the crossbar.

Josh Skelly’s audacious chip might have been goalbound had the wind not held it up for Hogarth to gather.

The Loons had come on to a game and had a big shout for a penalty turned down on the stroke of half time. Kieran Inglis was barged over as he drove into the box but the referee was unmoved.

The second half was a more entertaining affair and Forfar should have had the lead when Hogarth made a mess of his clearance but Inglis got his shot all wrong and missed the open net from distance.

Forfar thought they had another opportunity to go in front when Josh Skelly was played through on goal after 51 minutes but the linesman incorrectly raised his flag to the furore of the home fans.

That decision would get even more unpopular thirty seconds later as Dumbarton went up the other end and won a penalty when Finlay Gray went down in the corner of the box. Tony Wallace stepped up to slot home the penalty.

The Loons were back on the front foot and it was the unlikely figure of Andy Munro who drove forward from the back. The captain won a 50-50 and drove in to the box but stepped on the ball and fell over in comical fashion.

Skelly was next to cause danger when he got in behind and flashed a ball across goal but a Dumbarton defender managed to knock the ball just round his own post with Rayan Mohammed lurking behind.

Skelly came close once more after 69 minutes. He did well on the wing and worked an angle to shoot. He had beaten Hogarth but the ball came back off the post.

The Loons came close twice in a minute soon after. First, the Dumbarton keeper spilled a corner over the line but the referee adjudged their to have been a foul, then Finlay Allan went in behind and had the goal at his mercy but got his shot all wrong and it went well wide.

Dumbarton had another ruled out after 78 minutes. McCallum did well to save Carlo Pigniatello’s shot but it broke for Orsi who knocked in. The goal was given but the winger looked well offside. A consultation between the referee and the linesman came to the same conclusion and the goal was chopped off.

The game was killed after 83 minutes. Mohammed attempted to break after a corner but was hauled over, Pigniatello took advantage of a defence that was all at sea and rifled in from the edge of the box.

The Loons now travel to 2nd place Peterhead, searching for a win to kickstart a strong conclusion to the season.