Forfar Athletic 1 Airdrieonians 3

SPFL League 1

Station Park, Forfar

Saturday 21 November 2020

In a still young season already characterised by a series of uphill battles, this was more of the same for Forfar. Two goals down inside 21 minutes, the Loons eventually went down 3-1 at Station Park to an Airdrieonian side that took full advantage of the home team’s lack of aggression in the opening 45-minutes. 

  Despite a much more positive display after the half-time interval, Forfar boss Stuart Malcolm was  not surprisingly unstinting in his criticism of his side’s overall failure to cope with the speed and strength of the visitors.

  “We were absolutely abysmal in the first half,” said Malcolm. “We didn’t want to compete. We were passive. Their first goal was excellent. But our defending was woeful. Yes, the penalty kick that put them 2-0 up was a disgrace. I don’t know how that’s a penalty. But we have to accept these things. If we don’t compete better we could find ourselves cut adrift (at the bottom of the table) pretty quickly. If you don't turn up in this league, it’s always going to be hard work. Especially against teams like Airdrie, who are big, strong and physical. Our defending was very disappointing. We just didn’t turn up. And we had lost the game by half-time. It just wasn’t good enough.”

  The same cannot be said of the second-half, however. After receiving a verbal “kick up the backside” from their manager, Forfar played a different brand of football after the break. With Scott Shepherd joining Jordan Allan up front, the offensive threat - minimal in the first-half despite Chris Antoniazzi’s 22nd minute counter - was clearly enhanced.

  “I was livid at half-time,” admitted Malcolm. “But the second-half was a different story. We created good chances and got bodies up the park. We could easily have scored three or four times. On another day we could have had a few goals. Their goalkeeper made some great saves. And we could have had a penalty that might have changed the game a wee bit. We passed the ball about well and competed. It was just a totally different performance. If only we had done that in the first half. But we didn’t and after that we were climbing a mountain.”

  Still, there was no disguising Malcolm’s overall frustration at the end of a defeat that leaves Forfar two points adrift at the bottom of the table. With away games at Peterhead and Clyde looming, the pressure to pick up points is mounting.

  “We have to put it all together,” summed up Malcolm. “And the guys have to take responsibility at some point. We can’t be changing nappies at half-time. Nobody knows better than me where we are now. We’ve got two points but we should have six. That’s where we are. I’m just so angry and bitterly disappointed with how we played for the first 45-minutes today. 

  “Some of the younger lads think if they do well in the first-half the second-half will be the same. But today we had enough experience in the team to know better than that. We need to put it all together. The guys know what to do. They’ve been told in no uncertain terms. Over the next two weeks we need to compete like we did today in the second-half. We need to take confidence from that.”

  Looking forward, there is one consolation for Malcolm. The lengthy injury list that has made it difficult for him to identify his best team with any degree of certainty on a week-to-week basis, is due to shorten, albeit slightly.

  “We haven’t really been able to get our best eleven out on the park,” admitted Malcolm. “Steven Anderson is one who will be back soon. His experience at the back was been missed. But I’m not going to make excuses. Even without him we should still be competing. We should still be working hard on the “dirty” side of the game. To say I’m angry and frustrated is an understatement. I came here today full of beans thinking we would do well like last week. I could see us causing Airdrie a lot of problems. But we shot ourselves in the foot with that terrible first-half performance. But I hope the young ones will learn from this and that the older lads will push them on. Then we’ll be ready for Peterhead next week.”