Raith Rovers v Forfar Farmington - Sunday 27th. April 2008

Raith Rovers 2 v Forfar Farmington 1

This was a match Forfar will want to forget quickly. With confidence riding high after their recent away win at Kilmarnock Forfar were expecting to produce a similar performance and come away with all three points.

Neither side in the opening 20 minutes managed to establish a clear pattern of play, Raith started the brighter of the two teams however much of the action was restricted to the central midfield where both sides struggled to control the ball on a hard bumpy pitch. The opening goal fell to Raith in the 21st minute when Katie Bennett neatly chipped keeper McNicoll who was helpless to prevent an excellently executed piece of football,1-0.

Forfar were not long in replying. Two minutes later Jane McFarlane’s superb solo run saw her out strip the Raith defence before striking a beautiful shot from the edge of the area with the outside of her foot which gave the Raith keeper no chance.  Thereafter the game began to open up more, the two goals encouraging both sides to play more expansively using the whole width of the pitch and stretching the play at both ends.

Forfar were struck a cruel blow close to half time when a late cynical challenge which went unpunished resulted in McFarlane being unable to continue and likely to be missing for several weeks with a damaged ankle. McFarlane who was looking dangerous whenever on the ball was sorely missed.

Raith stole the lead on the stroke of half time when in the 47th minute a fumbled ball in the box, following a corner, was stabbed home. 

The first 10 minutes of the second half began with a buoyed up Raith looking the livelier but Forfar pushing players forward eventually began to get some measure of control. Unfortunately even when playing with three up front and with the lions share of possession were unable to carve out any clear chances. A battling Raith and an increasingly frustrated Forfar slugged it out for the remainder of the game. Credit to Raith who denied Forfar any opportunities in what was a disappointing and dull match to watch and no doubt an incredibly frustrating match to play in.

Forfar will quickly wish to move on from this forgettable encounter and hope to be more productive in the coming weeks.