Forfar1–1Arbroath

The “Loons” returned to League action against neighbours Arbroath following a three week break due to Cup commitments and the postponement of the league trip to Coatbridge. Forfar made two changes to the side which dumped Ayr Utd out of the Scottish Cup with Martyn Fotheringham warming up the bench and Mark McCulloch suspended, Barry Sellars and the familiar on-loan face of Dale Hilson were the able replacements.

The home side began the stronger and the first four minutes saw Chris Templeman and Gavin Swankie shoot from range. After 15 minutes Willie Robertson could have been the hero and the villain, he collected the ball performing good work before laying the ball off for James Craigen who saw his shot well saved. As Bullock punted his goal kick forward Robertson won the ball but misjudged his pass and ex-Loon Darren Gribben found himself one-on-one with Jack Hamilton, Gribben tried to take the ball round the keeper, but Hamilton was equal to the challenge and stopped the danger.

Arbroath were now beginning to take a grip on the game, and good work between Currie and Birse saw Hamilton coming to his side’s rescue again with a fine stop. Forfar then had a let off when Bolochoweckyj allowed Doris to steal past him, but there was no one else up field for the visitors and the ball was cleared. Forfar were still in the game though, and twice in quick succession Willie Robertson made excellent runs which gave Swankie and Campbell chances to shoot, but both efforts lacked accuracy.

The first half remained goal-less but 8 minutes into the second period Forfar should have opened their account. Barry Sellars avoided a tackle before sending over a good deep cross, the ball evaded everyone falling to the feet of Hilson, he took one touch before firing wide from a very good position. Forfar were controlling things in the second half and it seemed only a matter of time before a goal arrived. Swankie had a header tipped over, then Swankie and Templeman combined well after good work from Iain Campbell, but the final effort was deflected wide. The “Loons” dominance finally paid off after 73 minutes when DALE HILSON collected a Templeman knock down on the edge of the penalty box and fired home a low shot past the diving Bullock.

Forfar continued to have the upper hand and following a flurry of substitutions seemed to be easing the game to a winning conclusion. In fact Forfar almost scored a second goal when Iain Campbell unleashed a tremendous shot from 25 yards out only to see the Arbroath custodian tip the ball over. As stoppage time ticked away the visitors grabbed an unlikely equaliser, Doris crossed very deep into the home box and HOLMES kept the ball in and guided it across goal, the ball hit the unlucky Jack Hamilton and ended up in the back of the net.w