The Spartans v Forfar Athletic – Match Preview

Venue – Vanloq Community Stadium
Tuesday 17th March – kick-off 7.45pm.

The ‘Loons’ sitting fifth in the William Hill League2 table clash with second placed The Spartans in the Capital City on Tuesday evening, the first of two fixtures between the sides this coming week.

Jim Weir and his players are well aware of the two tough games that lie ahead of them against Dougie Samuel’s side, but will go into the first leg of the double header in good heart following what was an excellent performance at the Forthbank Stadium on Saturday past. It was one of the few games in the past two seasons that Forfar dominated from the first to last whistle, the final three goal winning margin and the accompanying clean sheet well merited to say the least.

It was little wonder that both Jim Weir and Gavin Price speaking to various members of the press in the immediate aftermath of the contest expressed their delight at the way the ninety minutes had evolved. It was a real team effort with not a failure in sight, but the icing on the cake was undoubtedly the three stunning strikes from Blair Alston, Matty Allan and Aron Lynas in the first period, which gave the visitors a comfortable half time advantage. The manager was honest enough to admit however in the aftermath that he had missed Aron’s goal thanks to an impending call of nature!

Incidentally it cannot have been often that this late in the campaign all three counters were the first goals of the season in Athies colours for each of the marksmen.

Time does not stand still as we all know in football and we move on swiftly to Tuesday night’s encounter which has important ramifications at this time of the season for both clubs. If the home side triumph they will go above East Kilbride into to top spot, while the ‘Loons’ if they avoid defeat in what is the first of their two away games in hand will move into fourth spot above Stranraer.

Craig Slater is again a doubt for the visitors, while Blair Alston was not hopeful in the aftermath of Saturday’s contest of making the starting line-up following a groin strain he picked up in the second period against the ‘Binos’. As we reach the business end of the season, the Forfar management team are confident they now have the squad that can cope with the odd injury or two, but at the same time Jim acknowledges the difficulty of the task that lies ahead on Tuesday evening and for that matter Saturday into the bargain.

The Spartans thanks to second half goals from Marc McNulty and Mark Stowe defeated third placed Clyde on home ‘soil’ on Saturday past, this result to some degree erasing the memory of a 3-0 defeat from a seemingly resurgent Dumbarton side the previous week.

The Edinburgh outfit recorded a 1-0 win over Stuart Morrison and his colleagues on our previous visit to Ainslie Park as many still know it back in August, the sides battling out a 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture in November. On that Saturday afternoon Mackenzie Lemon gave the Athies an 18th minute lead, Cammy Russell netting the equalizer for the Spartans early in the second period.

Another close fought contest could be on the cards for Tuesday evening and although when playing in the Fife or Lothians area we can always count on a few ‘Farfar’ exiles to be in attendance, hopefully despite the midweek slot, a few ‘Loons’ die hards will as ever make the 140 mile round trip south east to lend their most appreciated backing.

Abbie Hendry is Tuesday night’s referee, the first time that she will have taken charge of competitive fixture involving the ‘Loons’.

Admission charges etc at the Vanloq Stadium are;-

Adults £18
Concessions (16/18 year olds & 65 and over) £13
15 year olds and under £6

Tickets can be bought in advance see The Spartans official website for full details. A card/cash payment turnstile is also normally available on match day.

Footnote- A reminder of the ‘Loons’ other League2 fixtures as March month draws to a close;-

Saturday March 21st - The Spartans – Home - k.o. 3pm.
Tuesday March 24th - Elgin City – Away - k.o. 7.45pm.
Saturday March 28th – Dumbarton – Away - k.o. 2pm.