Last Minute Relief In Forfar

Glasgow City left Forfar a relieved side tonight defeating a resilient Forfar Farmington 1-0 courtesy of strike from Rachel Corsie with 30 seconds left to play.

City made the long trip North to take on a confident Forfar side who had previously held league leaders Celtic to two narrow 1-0 wins this season. The Station Park venue was a perfect surface for both teams and a credit to Forfar especially at a time when even some of the country’s top professional sides are struggling to find a decent playing surface.

Having previously enjoyed comfortable wins over Forfar, City were blasted at half time by their management team for not taking a hold of the game as they should have. Lots of possession was enjoyed in the first 45 minutes, but little penetration saw Forfar see out the first half relatively comfortably.

The second half was a different matter as time and time again City threw everything at a Forfar side, who battled extremely hard to keep a blank scoresheet. With the Forfar keeper in fine form, the post and cross bar twice saving City’s attempts, it really was beginning to look as though this was not to be the current Champions’ day.

As time progressed City missed more and more chances, with three one on ones with the keeper put agonisingly wide. However, the pressure eventually paid off when Corsie forced home high into the corner of the net in a tightly packed Forfar penalty box.

There was barely time for the re-start and within one minute the referee blew for the end of ninety minutes.

Head Coach Eddie Wolecki commented, “We were furious with the team at half time. Their first half performance was nothing short of a disgrace and we were not short in telling them. Forfar are a good side and we needed to respect that. Thankfully the second half was a completely different matter and full credit to the girls. They played well and in the end got their reward. However I will admit that when we kept missing our countless chances I was beginning to think we had blown the opportunity of three points. Thankfully that was not the case and we have now got another game under our belt. We have Dundee United in the Scottish Cup Quarter Finals on Sunday and that will be another really difficult match, so we need to start our preparation for this.”

 

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 Forfar Farmington Ladies 0 - Glasgow City 1

A goal in the 3rd minute of extra time ended Forfar’s hopes of securing a deserved point from this extremely hard fought encounter.

Having lost to league leaders Celtic 0-1 at the weekend with a goal in the last 10 minutes, Forfar’s valiant efforts against the current league champions ultimately came to nought, but the high quality of their football and that of their visitors, witnessed by a sizable crowd at Station Park, was plain for all to see. From the outset Forfar were determined not to allow Glasgow to settle. With a steely edge not always shown, Forfar physically bossed the first half. Early 50:50 challenges were almost all won by Forfar and became contagious.

While Forfar had few goal scoring opportunities, a blocked Joanne Collier shot the best of them, Glasgow equally struggled to mount any sustained attacks. Glasgow created little and failed to make any headway against a well-organised defence. Avril Gourlay and Joanne Collier’s tenacious tackling in midfield frustrated Glasgow at every turn. Alana Bruce and Ali McCaig ensured the flanks were secure, equally in central defence Nicola Davidson and Claire Garrett, with Fiona McNicoll behind, dealt comfortably with everything Glasgow had to offer.

Half Time :- 0-0

The second half saw Glasgow slowly build up pressure on the Forfar goal, Caren Webster and Carolyn Heron up front continued to ceaselessly close down but increasingly had to drop deeper to defend as Glasgow pushed to break the deadlock. Fiona McNicoll yet again demonstrated top quality keeping and was forced to make a number of fine saves. An early speculative cross, which hit the crossbar, spurred Glasgow on but some wayward shooting and last ditch tackling continued to keep the visitors at bay. Glasgow’s Lappin, presented with the best chances, continued to miss the target adding to their anxiety.

The introduction of Jane Ross with 15 minutes to go gave Glasgow renewed vigour; her pace and freshness adding to the strain on the hard pressed Forfar defence. Ruesha Littlejohn rattled the crossbar with a header as time ran out and what appeared to be Forfar’s good fortune was holding. With every home supporter already disbelieving that a third minute of extra time was being played, a rasping shot from the edge of Forfar’s crowded box from Rachel Corsie flew into the top right hand corner of the net. This was met by a jubilant response from a greatly relieved Glasgow and an audible groan from everyone else.

A point from this fixture would have been a real bonus given the quality of the opposition. Forfar proved yet again how difficult they are to defeat. Although forced to defend for long spells in the second half when in possession Forfar retained and passed the ball well without exposing the tightest defence in the league.