Cowdenbeath v Forfar Athletic – match preview

For the third Saturday in succession, the ‘Loons’ are on their travels with Central Park in Cowdenbeath the destination this time round.

All connected with the club will be hoping we can break our ‘duck’ for the month of September after two 1-0 defeats to date in cup and league two action.

Forfar head into the clash with the ‘Blue Brazil’ still at present occupying fourth place in the cinch league2 table, following last Saturday’s defeat at Stirling, but they currently sit five points adrift of leaders Kelty Hearts.

It has to be said that the Athies league position could alter on Friday evening but that depends on the result at Ainslie Park in the Capital City.

Saturday’s opponents sit in the bottom spot with four points, having lost their last three league fixtures.

The Fifers are of course managed by former ‘Loons’ boss Gary Bollan and this will be the first time the sides have ‘crossed swords’ since Gary took over the reins at Central Park.

In fact, it is the first competitive joust between the sides since the penultimate Saturday of the league campaign in April 2017 when the sides fought out a 1-1 draw at the same venue, Gary of course in charge of the Athies on that occasion.

As far as team selection is concerned for this weekend’s clash, Gary Irvine was delighted to see Andy Munro back in training in midweek and along with a couple of others, his fitness will be assessed prior to kick-off on Saturday.  

Steven Doris however is unlikely to feature following a hamstring injury picked up after coming on as a sub at Stirling.

In passing and also looking longer term, Sam Fisher was also back in action at training this week.

Last weekend, especially during the second period, Forfar had the upper hand for lengthy periods of the game, but finding the back of the net was, without doubt, the problem as the final scoreline implies.

The travelling fans will hope that the scoring touch returns on Saturday against a home side who have one familiar face in Bobby Barr in their ranks.

For the second consecutive week, a referee will be handling a Forfar Athletic fixture for the first time, Iain Snedden the man in the middle on this occasion.

This weekend’s other fixtures in the cinch league2 are as follows;-

Friday – Edinburgh City v Stirling Albion

Saturday – Albion Rovers v Kelty Hearts, Elgin City v Annan Athletic, Stranraer v Stenhousemuir