Forfar Athletic 2 Montrose 3

SPFL League 1

31 October 2020, Station Park, Forfar

There are many ways to lose football matches. None, however, is so cruel as the loss of a goal in the dying seconds of a hotly-contested game. But that was Forfar’s fate in their third league match of the season, a last-minute strike by Montrose substitute Liam Callaghan consigning the Loons to a 3-2 defeat.

“That was obviously very disappointing,” said a grim-faced Forfar Boss, Stuart Malcolm, at the end of 93 minutes played in a strong wind that made even the simplest passes a lottery. “It was definitely a game of two halves. And, as it turned out, a hard lesson for the boys. We didn’t deserve to lose the game - but we have.”

It was also a match in which Forfar never led. Twice the home side levelled the scores after falling behind. But a third time was beyond them due to the lateness of what proved to be the winning goal.

As ever, the retired-defender that is Malcolm was suffering when describing the lead-up to all three Montrose counters.

“We lost the first two to set-pieces and in the build-up, to their third goal there was actually a free-kick to us,” he continued. “But they cleared the ball and broke away. There were times that we could have been better in possession of the ball and that was maybe one of those. We maybe needed a wee bit more know-how to play the conditions. As I’ve been saying all season, in games where we are not going to win we have to make sure we don’t lose.

“But we are a young squad and we will learn from this. I am confident that they will - and quickly. I’m a huge fan of every one of these lads. I love the squad that we have put together, one that will only get better when the lads with big injuries come back. And I liked how we moved the ball around at times out there. We just needed more of that today.”

Malcolm was also at pains not to blame any lack of experience in a defence lacking older heads like Michael Travis, BeeJay Coll, Steven Anderson, Darren Whyte and for 85 minutes of this match, goalkeeper Marc MacCallum. The Forfar custodian limped off with what proved to a thigh injury after only five minutes, to be replaced by Abertay University student, Daniel Hoban.

“The injuries just keep mounting up,” lamented Malcolm. “It’s just unbelievable. We are getting no breaks whatsoever. Marc is never injured and now it looks like he could be out for a few weeks.

Which leaves us searching for a back-up goalkeeper of course. Having said that, young Daniel was excellent today. He made a number of good saves. And I’m sure he will make the most of this opportunity.”

There was praise too for the other teenagers on display, lads “full of legs and energy” according to Malcolm. 19-year old Sam Fisher in the centre of defence came in for special praise. On loan from Dundee, the youngster again impressed his temporary boss with a steady performance in tough circumstances.

“Sam was excellent today,” reaffirmed Malcolm. “But collectively we are a young team. I’m far from blaming any individual for anything that happened out there. We just didn’t see the game out like I would have liked. And that is not aimed at any single player. Sam, for example, is going to be a very, very good centre-half. He’s here to learn. He’s here to play games. And you can see how quickly he is improving.”

Amongst those consolations, Forfar also scored two fine goals. The first was a typically well-taken effort by Jordan Allan. The second stemmed from what was the best move of the game, one started by and finished - with a fine strike into the bottom right-hand corner - by substitute Chris Antoniazzi.

“In the end, I’m not sure either team actually deserved to win,” was Malcolm's closing summation, one he laced with a bit of dark humour.

“It was actually a terrible game of football in awful conditions,” he continued. “Not having any fans here today has actually done them a favour. Again, what I will take away from this is that we need to learn how to see-out games better than we did today. Which is what we did against Dumbarton and Falkirk. But today we were undone by a corner-kick, a second-phase from a corner and a breakaway. We need to defend all three situations better, although we were never cut open at any time during the match.”

Which is not to say it wasn't a bit of a heart-breaker.