Forfar Athletic 2 Edinburgh City 2 (AET, Forfar Athletic win 5-3 on penalties)

Third Round, Scottish Cup

Saturday 3 April 2021

Station Park, Forfar

This was your classic Scottish Cup tie, one boasting a bit of just about everything. Four goals, including one in the last minute of regulation play. Umpteen missed chances. Shots off the woodwork. Some great saves by the goalies. Bookings. A red card. Extra-time. Penalties. And, for Forfar at least, a happy ending that seemed unlikely for at least the first hour of what turned into an epic encounter with Edinburgh City.

In a team of hard-working heroes, most credit must go to the goalkeeper, Daniel Hoban. Preferred to regular number-one Marc McCallum after a fine performance in the mid-week draw with Partick Thistle, Hoban, more than justified manager Stuart Malcolm's faith in his abilities. In the 15 minutes after half-time, the Abertay University student made a series of vital saves, then, when it mattered most. a game-winning stop of Edinburgh City’s four penalties. When another Daniel, Scally this time, slotted home the next spot-kick - making it five out of five for the home side - the Loons were safely into the hat for the next round of the cup.

“We’re obviously delighted, especially as we were forced into so many changes because five lads (Andy Munro, Grant Anderson, Callum Moore, Martin Scott and the newly-signed Michael Anderson) were already cup-tied,” said Malcolm. “We scored in the 94th minute and got the reward for playing a bit more directly as the game went on. By the end, we had two big guys up front and it paid off for us. So giving the opposition defence a different problem to solve worked out well.

“And yes, Daniel (Hoban) has been great. He made some superb saves to keep us in the game. Which was no surprise. But, all in all, we dug in and weathered the storm. The second half of the second half was ours as we grew in confidence. They had chances, but so did we towards the end. It was just a great cup-tie, one that had it all. It was enjoyable to watch. Edinburgh are a good team and I’m sure they will go on to do well in their own league.”

Malcolm was right to be relieved though. If not for right-back Roberto Ntidi adding a last-gasp, 94th-minute equaliser to Jordan Allan’s opportunist counter in the first-half, the efforts of Hoban and his team-mates would have been for nought.

“I was impressed with the way we hung in there,” continued the Forfar boss. “Dan made those great saves. And we defended well when we had to. Our fight and our endeavour and attitude were first-class. We were so resilient. Yes, we were a little lucky that Edinburgh didn’t score a third goal when they were ahead and on top. But we should win the game by the end.

“I’m happy too for Roberto. He is a fantastic young boy. He’s taken an opportunity to come up from England and play for us. He’s desperate to be a football player and he has sacrificed a lot to be here. People don’t see what goes on behind the scenes. But Roberto deserves any credit he gets. Hopefully, the chance he has taken is going to pay off for him.”

Even having to play 120-minutes of football immediately before a three-match league run in the next seven days wasn’t worrying Malcom too much. The long-awaited return of experienced striker Steven Doris brought much encouragement as the game wore on and those five cup-tied players will offer fresh legs in what will be vital matches.

“Tuesday against Peterhead, Thursday against Clyde and Saturday versus East Fife is our bread-and-butter,” insisted Malcolm. “And I can’t wait for the games coming in mid-week. In terms of injuries, we are in much better shape now than where we were at the start of the season. But this next week is huge. We need to pick up points. And we’ll need to make changes. So it’s a difficult task. But we just have to get on with it and makes are we are still in the fight against relegation going into the last games of the season.”

Still, another week on and Forfar will get another welcome - and hopefully lucrative - break from their battle with the drop when the next round of the cup is played on April 17th.

“I’m not too fussed about who we get in the next round,” said Malcolm. “It would obviously be nice to draw one of the big clubs, but we’ll take what comes. We’re just delighted to be still in the game. A wee run in the cup is massive for the club in terms of finances, especially at a time when things are so difficult generally.”

Difficult yes, but as this cup-tie proved, not insurmountable.