Peterhead 0 Forfar Athletic 1

SPFL League 1

Balmoor Stadium, Peterhead 

28 November 2020

A clean sheet. Three points. A first win of the league season. And a move off the bottom of the table. It’s safe to say there were more than a few positives for manager Stuart Malcolm’s Forfar side to take away from the Balmoor stadium at the end of a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Peterhead. 

  A Bobby Barr goal one-minute before half-time was all that separated the sides at the end of an entertaining encounter. But this was a defensive triumph more than an attacking adventure for the Loons. While the end-to-end opening 45-minutes were dominated by neither side, Malcolm's description of the second half as “a siege” was more than apt. Time and again the Forfar defence - ably marshalled by Gary Irvine and Ross Meechan - repelled a Peterhead side that will surely have left the premises frustrated by the skill and character shown by all in the visitor’s defence.

  Not surprisingly, Malcolm was a happy man at the end of the 90 minutes.

  “This is always a difficult place to come,” said the former centre-half. “It doesn’t matter if you are at the top of the league or scrapping away for points. So to come here and win is great for us. I thought we were excellent in the first half. We could have scored two or three goals; we had some excellent chances. After half-time, I was worried that this game was going to turn out like some others have this season already. But the boys dug in. Their defensive work in the second half was incredible. 

  “I can’t really think of (goalkeeper) Marc (McCallum) having to make an outstanding save. Having said that, the second half was a bit of a siege. But we stood up to it. Every single one of my players was absolutely fantastic. Compared to last week, when we had an ‘off’ first 45-minutes, this was so much better. And it was just the sort of reaction I was looking for.”

  A change in formation was part of the Malcolm plan, one designed to “make us harder to beat.” So it was that the familiar 4-4-2 became 4-2-3-1, the two sitting in front of the back-four providing an extra layer of protection in front of McCallum’s goal.

  “We changed the shape of the team this week,” explained Malcolm. “We matched up against their shape. And got a better foothold in the game because of that. Peterhead were chasing the game after the break. So they were pumping bodies forward to try and put us under pressure with numbers and getting the ball forward. 

  “But the work we did during the week paid off. I was confident we could hold on, as long as an individual mistake didn’t show through. We knew we were going to have to soak up pressure. But when we broke in the first half we looked dangerous. I’d have taken a scrappy 1-0 win before we started, just to give us a victory and get us moving. Our defensive shape and our defensive work in terms of putting our bodies in front of the ball was excellent. It was nail-biting at times when they got into wide areas, but we defended exceptionally well. Credit to all the boys for that.”

  There was a relief too, at the end of a match that lifts Forfar onto five points from six matches played. Yes, they remain second-bottom of league division 1, but perhaps more significantly, fifth place is now only two points distant.

  “It’s brilliant to see us off the bottom of the league,” confirmed Malcolm. “I’ve never believed these players should be there. They haven’t had the rewards they’ve deserved so far this season. We should have taken more points from the games against Dumbarton and Falkirk. But that’s football. Sometimes you have to be patient. Today though, we were excellent to a man. But we still have a long way to go. And more points to pick up. 

   “It’s always a long journey coming up here. But going home with a victory means the bus will be pretty buoyant and loud and boisterous. Which is how I want it. We want the feeling of winning. There’s nothing better. Winning is what this game is all about. And that’s what we are trying to instil in this team. This is a small step up the ladder. But this is a young side with so much more to offer. Today, I can’t fault any of them. They worked their hearts out. And yes, they were definitely hard to beat.”

  Just one last positive then.