Elgin City 2-0 Forfar Athletic: Black and Whites see off Loons to turn promotion heat up on rivals

Elgin City secured a deserved 2-0 victory against Forfar Athletic, which keeps them outside League Two’s top four by only one goal.

The evening began with three teams on 36 points, Forfar, Elgin City and Stranraer, who defeated third-placed Clyde 3-1 to replace Forfar in fourth spot, being one goal better off than City.

There are still six fixtures left for Allan Hale’s side to repeat their fourth-place finish from last season, with five points covering the four teams all trying to make the cut.

Second half substitute Kane Hester fired the Moray club in front to give the hosts the advantage with his 101st goal for the Black and Whites.

And on-loan Arbroath midfielder Ally Spalding capped this big result with his first goal for the club to wrap up the points against one of their rivals.

Hale reacts to second half double

Hale was delighted with the win, which came by being patient, as he picked out the player who set up both goals for a special mention.

He said: “We asked the players at half-time to just be patient. The game was a bit frantic in the first half, given what was at stake in terms of three points.

“In the first half, neither team really settled into it too well. There was no lack of effort, appetite or application. I told the players we would get the moments where we can show our quality.

“We just needed to trust our quality. We showed that.

“I was delighted for Rocco (Hickey-Fugaccia) with two assists. He has had to be patient since he’s come in. He can bring a lot to the team. He’s really direct and dynamic and works really hard out of possession.

“He showed real quality with a good cross for the first goal and I was delighted for Kane, who has had to also be patient given the form of (15-goal striker) Ryan Sargent.

“Rocco picked up a really good position for the second goal and played a great first touch out of the pressure and it was a great through pass. I was delighted for Ally to get his first goal.

“I was delighted to win in difficult conditions against a really good opponent.

“Three points are massive especially so at this stage of the season where games run out on you. When you’re at the business end, you have to put runs together and we’re trying to do that now.

“We’ve scored five goals and kept two clean sheets in our last two games. It’s good to see we’re fluent at one end and solid at the other.

“We have another tough opponent coming here with Clyde on Saturday.”

It was a competitive enough contest, although the lack of quality could well be put down in part to the stakes being so high as the campaign enters the home straight.

The sole City change saw Mark Gallagher come in for on-loan Dons kid Jamie Mercer, who had a knock from Saturday’s 3-0 win at Edinburgh City.

Forfar, who are led by former Elgin managers Jim Weir and Gavin Price, were without suspended midfielder Stuart Morrison after his red card in the 1-1 draw with Spartans on Saturday.

Blair Alston and Martin Rennie were also not in the Angus side’s squad, and in their place came Mackenzie Lemon, Callum Wilson and Aiden Haddow.

All effort but no first half opener

Elgin showed an attacking intent in the early stages with encouraging moves on either flank, keeping their opponents on their toes.

A snap shot from Forfar right-back Aron Lynas had to be watched, but the ball bounced and the sting was taken out of it, making it a comfortable take for home goalkeeper Tom Ritchie.

Chances were few and far between, but the players on both sides were giving their all in a bid to get the upper hand.

On 33 minutes, the visitors seemed certain to score when Scott Shepherd played a fine ball through for Wilson, but the midfielder was denied by a vital save from Ritchie.

The remainder of the first half fizzled out, with the hope of better to follow after the interval.

The first chance of the second half came the way of Athletic after ex-Black and Whites man Angus Mailer was brought to ground. A decent hit from Dunfermline loanee Jake Sutherland flashed just wide of the right post.

Elgin were soon back on the attack, but Walker was off target with a shot which had too much height to test goalkeeper Marc McCallum on 56 minutes, just before Russell Dingwall shot wide.

Hester and Spalding make difference

However, two minutes later, striker Hester scored his 12th goal of the season when he was on hand to knock home a cross from the energetic Rocco Hickey-Fugaccia.

The breakthrough settled some nerves and City knocked the ball around with a little more confidence.

That said, Shepherd, who scored four in one game against Elgin earlier this season, almost equalised when he gathered the ball just inside the box, but guided his effort wide of the right post.

The points were in the bag with 13 minutes to go when Spalding latched on to a pass from Hickey-Fugaccia before slotting the ball past McCallum.

This Saturday, Elgin host third-placed Clyde one week before taking on Forfar at Station Park.

[Source: Press and Journal]