Forfar Athletic 0-2 Dumbarton
Posted in Dumbarton FC at 14:55 on 25 September 2011
SFL Div 2, Station Park, 24/9/11.
A welcome win. But… Something weird is going on.
We haven’t won (or even drawn) at home in the league. Yet away, we’ve won two, drawn one (and lost one.)
We had marginally the better of the early exchanges here though neither side looked likely to score until a run through led to a good save by the Forfar keeper and Brian Prunty just missed the rebound; in the stramash Mark Gilhaney’s blocked shot came back to him and he smashed it against the bar but Prunty was offside and his tap-in didn’t count.
We soon lost the hard running Pat Walker to injury but the sub David Winters scored when the Forfar defence stood still at a Scott Agnew free kick. In oceans of space and with his back to goal Winters fashioned a kind of horizontal bicycle bick to slot the opener.
All through the game Forfar played neat and tidy stuff and tried to pass the ball but generally looked curiously out of sorts. They had several half-chances but no clear cut opportunities.
Forfar’s keeper had at least three good saves though, one from Mark Gilhaney squirmed onto the post before bouncing out.
Our second came when a bit of dig from Scott Agnew in midfileld won him the ball and he despatched Gihaney whose cross was killed by Prunty to set up a volley which he thumped into the net.
Then came the most ridiculous sending off. A nothing situation gave us a throw in on the halfway line and a Forfar player pushed David Winters who fended him off with his hands. The ref scurried over flashing a red card. The Forfar guy escaped with only a yellow.
We managed to hold out without too much torment – though I was looking at my watch a lot – and we seemed quite well organised at the back. Paul Nugent was solid at right back. Loanee Ross McKinnon was okay at left mid but may not be quite match fit.
Apart from the win the most noteworthy occurence was Stephen Grindlay came for and held several cross balls!!!! That’s been missing from his game for too long. (He did miss one later on though.)
Tags: Brian Prunty, Forfar Athletic, Mark Gilhaney, Pat Walker, Ross McKinnon, Scott Agnew, Station Park, Stephen Grindlay
Alan Findlay
25 September 2011 at 18:33
Pretty accurate summary there Jack.
Winters, unfortunately had to go. His hands were thrown towards’s the Forfar No 11’s face and he (the No 11) was caught in the throat. The ref really didn’t have any choice in the matter. The incident happened right in front of me and the ref was correct.
I thought we put in a disciplined show yesteday; even after Winters red-card, we never looked in any danger and the gaffer got his tactics and team selection spot-on.
Here’s hoping that we can emulate our away form at the Rock this Saturday against the wee Rovers. Should be an interesting afternoon.
jackdeighton
25 September 2011 at 22:43
Thanks Alan,
You were obviously closer to the incident than me. It didn’t look that serious from where I was.
Don’t you think the instigator of an incident like that should suffer the same penalty, though?
Alan Findlay
26 September 2011 at 14:36
The laws of the game relating to violent conduct are quite clear – raise your hands towards an opponents face, get caught by the ref and it’s a red-card. It can be frustrating in the extreme when two players come togther, both obviously commit the same offence but only one is sent off.
I guess it’s a matter of how the ref sees it and from what angle.
Winding someone up is not a sending-off offence though!
jackdeighton
26 September 2011 at 18:49
“Winding someone up is not a sending-off offence though!”
Yes.
But violent conduct is. To my mind the Forfar player was guilty of violent conduct.
But, as you say, the ref has to see it the same way as me. And he didn’t.