Forfar Athletic v Cove Rangers – match preview
[Thursday, 24 December 2020 14:25]
The ‘Loons’ head into their final fixture of the calendar year of 2020 still looking for their first home victory of the season.
Cove Rangers are the visitors to Station Park on Saturday in what will be the Aberdeen side’s first competitive fixture against the Athies at Station Park. It will not, of course, be their first competitive fixture at the ground as they used the Station Park facilities on a handful of occasions as their ‘home’ ground when in the transition from Allan Park in Cove itself to the purpose-built Balmoral Stadium just inside the Granite City boundary for League and Challenge Cup ties.
The home side goes into the game on the back of what could be best described as a lacklustre showing over at East Fife last Saturday when they were perhaps lucky that the margin of defeat was not higher, a fact acknowledged by Stuart Malcolm in his after match assessment.
It is likely that there will be a few changes to the starting eleven for the visit of Paul Hartley’s men, one piece of good news the fact that Gary Irvine has returned to the fray after illness had ruled him out of the recent matches against Partick and the Fifers.
A few others who were on the bench at the outset last week will undoubtedly also be in the manager’s mind for a return to the side as the ‘Loons’ attempt to end what has been a year to forget for many different reasons, as all know not all of them involving football, with a three-point haul to bring a festive smile to the face of the sadly these days ‘armchair’ bound Forfar support.
It will no easy task despite the topsy turvy start that Cove had made to their League One campaign. After winning their first four games, culminating in a 3-0 defeat of Forfar in early November, they have proceeded to lose four and draw one of their next five.
That record includes a 3-2 home defeat to Clyde last weekend, the ‘Bully Wee’ netting a last-minute winner.
Saturday’s fixture has the usual 3 p.m. kick-off and David Lowe will be the man in charge of the proceedings.
