Huntly 1 Forfar Athletic 4 (AET)

Forfar left it late but eventually progressed past a strong Huntly side.

The stage was perfect for a Scottish Cup tie. The grass was long, the rain was falling, the wind was howling and the pitch was sloped.

Forfar struggled to get to grips with the conditions and Callum Moore and Josh Skelly both dragged tame shots wide with the only early sighters.

The hosts at times were breaking with purpose and took the lead after 16 minutes. Michael Dangana swept a curling effort in to the bottom corner from the edge of the box.

The goal lifted Huntly and the Loons toiled for the remainder of the first half playing against the wind. Josh Skelly passed up the only real opportunity when his shot was blocked.

The second half was an instant improvement from the Loons and they should have drawn level just two minutes after the restart. A nice passing move meant Mark Whatley had space but he sliced wide from 15 yards.

Forfar were pushing and had a golden opportunity to equalise in the 50th minute. Euan Mutale beat the centre-back and raced through on goal but he sliced his shot wide of the target.

Moore was next to come close as he went on a mazy run but his shot on the turn was just too high.

Forfar’s pressure finally resulted in some action for Fraser Hobday in the Huntly goal. Mutale did brilliantly on the wing and forced a save from the keeper.

Substitute Ryan Paterson was next to try his luck. He plucked a ball out of the sky and fired a spectacular volley towards goal on the turn. Had the strike been either side of the goalie it surely would have gone in but it was right down the throat of Hobday who held on.

Andy Munro got his head to a few corners as the Loons piled on the pressure and he had one cleared off the line as the clocked ticked on to 80 minutes.

Hobday was again called into action when Paterson broke through from midfield and fired towards goal but it was tipped over the bar.

It looked like time would run out for Forfar as injury time came around and Marc McCallum trotted up into the Huntly box in the 96th minute. The corner came into the box and the otherwise excellent Hobday misjudged it. Seb Ross described the ensuing events like this. “It came off Matty, hit off Andy, off the keeper, off the center-back and somehow went in.”

“Who cares, it went in,” he followed up with a laugh.

 Who cares indeed, the how was not particularly important, Forfar had forced extra time.

The Huntly players had poured everything into the 90 minutes and looked thoroughly deflated when the game restarted for extra time and the Loons were in front just two minutes later. A nice move from Paterson allowed Whatley time from 25 yards and he made no mistake, smashing the ball into the top corner for his first Loons goal.

Huntly were dead on their feet and the Athies took advantage. Doubling their lead in the 95th minute. A corner was swung in and following some head tennis, was nodded home by Cameron Ferguson who also notched his first Forfar goal.

The Loons were in ruthless mood and made it four when Paterson found Seb Ross through on goal. His shot was cleared off the line but Paterson was in hand to knock into the empty net.

Ferguson thought he had doubled his tally shortly before the whistle blew for halftime of extra time. His delight after a lovely dinked finish was cut short by the linesman’s flag.

If the first period of extra time was shooty in, the second half was walking football but there was still time for Marc McCallum to pull off an outstanding double save to keep the margin at three.

The Loons were comfortable in extra time after the late, late, late show forced the additional period. Nevertheless, the Loons are in the hat for the third-round draw of the Scottish Cup which takes place at 7.30pm on Sunday evening.