Forfar Athletic 2 Elgin City 2

Station Park, Forfar
@spflofficial @cinchuk League 2
Saturday 13 August 2022

Loons' scorers 
⚽️ Aitken (pen) 39'
⚽️ Ben Armour 82' 

Elgin scorers
⚽️ Hester 5'
⚽️ Dingwall (pen) 67

Frustration was the word of the day as Forfar were held to a draw by an Elgin side whose only shots were the goals they scored.

Elgin, however, were gifted their first goal in a manner that Gary Irvine called “completely unacceptable at this level.” Indeed eyebrows would be raised had the goal been conceded at any level. Kane Hester was the beneficiary of a lapse in concentration by the defence as he latched on to goalkeeper Thomas McHale’s high kick forward and was left with the simple task of lobbing over Marc McCallum and into the net.

The first half was controlled by the hosts but with little end product, that was until Matty Aitken flicked Darren Whyte’s header goal bound only for Elgin player Brian Cameron to beat the ball away with his hand. A dismissal and a penalty were the outcome. Matty Aitken calmly slotted away his first of the season from the spot.

Clearly boosted by the red card, the Loons went in search of the lead. Stefan McCluskey came close with a header just before the whistle but could only turn wide.

The second half continued much in the same vein as the first, Craig Slater rattled the crossbar with a free kick from range in the 49th minute.

In what became somewhat of a theme of the second half, the Loons fans were calling for a penalty in the 52nd minute, Callum Moore having his arm pulled as he attempted to convert a lobbed through ball but referee Daniel Graves saw no infringement.

Moore would have a shot from the edge held as the Athies ramped up the pressure but it was the visitors who would find themselves back in front. McCallum rushed from his goal in an attempt to claim a long crossed free kick but arrived late and clattered into the Elgin attacker, injuring himself in the process. Russell Dingwall was made to wait five minutes to take his penalty but the former Loon kept his head and rolled the penalty into the net.

Graves would again be the centre of attention moments later. Jevan Anderson stopped Matty Aitken from going clean through in the box with his arm, again the official remarkably saw no infringement.

Andy Munro thought he had found an equaliser in the 70th minute when he nodded a wide free-kick into the net but, much to the fury of the Forfar fans, the goal was chalked off for offside.

The deserved equaliser eventually came in the 82nd minute and it might even have been worth the wait. A tremendous move culminated in some neat interplay between Tarek Abed and Craig Slater. The latter freed McCluskey who squared for Ben Armour to tap in his first competitive Forfar goal.

Slater would sting the arms of McHale with a free kick as the Loons searched for an equaliser but failed to create any real chances until Roberto Nditi sent his header into the arms of the goalie in the final minute of regular time.

Elgin wer3 further reduced in number in the 92nd minute. Angus Mailer was shown a second yellow for time wasting as the visitors clung on.

The last chance would come from a bit of Craig Slater magic. He drove from deep and bounced the ball off McCluskey, unfortunately the only thing missing was the finish and he sent the ball over the bar.

And so the Loons were forced to settle for a point in a game in which they did very little wrong. How costly those two mistakes and two points dropped could be come the end of the season remains to be seen but there are certainly plenty of positives to take down to Methil next week.

Forfar Athletic 
1 McCallum 🟨 67'
2 Nditi 🟨 59'
19 Munro
4 Whyte 🔄 Abed 45' 🟨 85'
3 Brindley
7 Thomson
10 Slater
12 Moore 🔄 Jack 80'
24 Hanratty 🟨 70' 🔄 Flanagan 73'
11 McCluskey
9 Aitken ⚽️ 39' (pen) 🔄 Armour 73' ⚽️ 82'

Substitutes
6 Hutton
8 Jack
15 Hussain
17Armour
21 Sanderson
22 Abed
33 Flanagan

Elgin City
1 McHale
2 Cooper
5 Dolzanski
4 Anderson
3 Young 🔄 Cairns 87'
10 Findlay
6 MacEwan 🔄 MacInnes 90+1'
7 Dingwall ⚽️ 67' (pen)
8 Cameron 🟨 25' 🟥 38'
11 Antoniazzi 🔄 Mailer 39' 🟨 49' 🟨🟥90+3
9 Hester ⚽️ 5' 🟨 87' 🔄 Allen 90+1'

Substitutes
12 Cairns
14 Allen
15 Sopel
16 MacInnes
17 Mailer
18 Cruickshank
21 Hoban

Referee: Daniel Graves

Attendance: 439