Stenhousemuir -vs- Forfar Athletic (Saturday 26 February 2022)

[Francesc Fabregas]

Who cares about the escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine when we have an appealing game of lower-league Scottish football on the cards this weekend! Stenhousemuir welcome Forfar Athletic to Ochilview on a Saturday, a team who are quite clearly a superior team to the Warriors but who have been unable to get the better of them on the past two occasions. A 1-1 draw in October preceded a remarkable 4-3 ding-dong on Boxing Day -can Stenny maintain their decent form against one of the division's big hitters? Or will the Loons have the last laugh? Tune in to find out!

Stenhousemuir seem to be on a bit of an even keel after collecting seven points from their last three games and look more resilient and robust. As Stephen Swift said following the 1-1 draw with Stranraer last weekend, his side would have lost that match earlier in campaign, and I'd be inclined to agree with him. I'd keep the same XI that started the game at Stair Park but just tweak the formation slightly to an orthodox 4-4-2 and play Euan O'Reilly out on the left win. O'Reilly was excellent against Forfar last time out at Ochilview and throughout the second half, he had Ross Meechan in his back pocket. I'd much rather he's played as a pure winger instead of some daft trequartista who doesn't influence the game all that much.

Let's go with:

- Tam Orr - Robert Thomson -

- Euan O'Reilly - Nat Wedderburn - Mikey Miller - Mikey Anderson -

- Callum Yeats - Sean Crighton - Nicky Jamieson - Adam Corbett -

- Peter Urminsky -

I imagine it would morph into more of a 4-3-3 with O'Reilly pushing high up the park to support the strikers. We're not going to get a lot of width elsewhere, especially down the right, but that formation seems solid enough and has the capabilities to both inhibit and hurt the Loons. Tam Orr has seven goals in his last six matches, a superb return. I'm looking forward to seeing his partnership with Robert Thomson continue to blossom.

Wrap up warm as it will be very cold. I'll see you there!

[Nigel Blackwell]

Wonder if Ross Lyon will return, perhaps instead of Anderson? Other than that, can't imagine he will make any changes. We certainly look a lot reliable than we have done all season. Not sure we will win on Saturday but you get the impression that we have stabilised things.

[Hard Graft]

Now looking forward to the games with a degree of anticipation rather than trepidation.  Orr to continue his goal scoring run.

[Dan Steele]

I'd like to think Forfar will be on fine form after beating Kelty last week. Although we're still lacking in any real punch upfront, the midfield duo of Craig Slater and Kyle Hutton should be able to run things. Meechan won't get caught again! Still fancy a good flowing game but maybe not on Boxing Day levels or final score.  

[SlipperyP]

I'll be there....Loons. I  got a little drunk,  then went  enjoy the win loons. 

 

 

[Bridie Vision]

No Marc McCallum today. I'm guessing he's tested positive. Wonder how Lewis Sanderson will get on in nets for the Loons?

[Dan Steele]

Damn cold here but good soup and a pie is helping. Looking forward to cracker - c'mon Forfar.

[Bridie Vision]

14 minutes ago, The Skelpit Lug said:

Damn cold here but good soup and a pie is helping. Looking forward to cracker - c'mon Forfar.

Guess spelling isn't the Stenny lineup person's strong point.

Paul Corsson, Stefan McLuskey and Mathew Aitken

Also, interesting that our keeper apparently has the number 10 shirt.

[Dan Steele]

46 minutes ago, Bridie Vision said:

Guess spelling isn't the Stenny lineup person's strong point.

They've got Forbes down as Robb

[Dan Steele]

Slater doesn't star second half, Moore on.  Cracking Stenny second unfortunately.

[Jupiter Jazz]

Had to turn the stream off. I mean we're a mission to watch most weeks but that was especially brutal.

[Bridie Vision]

Well done Forfar, we're all on a high from beating Kelty, the next week we play like mince!

[Dan Steele]

18 minutes ago, Jupiter Jazz said:

Had to turn the stream off

Excellent decision. I suffered in silence at the game. Anyway, let's start with the positives:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Kelheart]

1 minute ago, The Skelpit Lug said:

Excellent decision. I suffered in silence at the game. Anyway, let's start with the positives:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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We are 12 clear now that’s quite positive 

[Jupiter Jazz]

3 minutes ago, The Skelpit Lug said:

Excellent decision. I suffered in silence at the game. Anyway, let's start with the positives:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The soup, surely?

[Old Fashioned Stramash]

I was wrong about Swift, very wrong. His tactics and formation today worked splendidly for us. It seems like Stenny are maturing and perhaps Swifts methods are starting to show? 

 Every player put in a good shift but the work rate and press was brilliant. Anderson is turning into some lower league Kante, won so many tackles and regained possession..

Nothing showed the level of work rate more than Corbett's run for the second goal. He's on his bike from our half, out paces the defender and gets on the end of the pass. Fortunate with the finish but deserved it. 

Urminsky seems to be giving the defenders so much more confidence. Stenny's defenders were playing the ball a lot better and are calmer. Jamieson could be one of our best acquisitions in a long time, absolute solid at this level. 

Used one sub and no O'Reilly.  

Great win. 

[Hard Graft]

Excellent performance today. We did well with the ball passing it about and putting Forfar under pressure for most of the game.  Forfar, despite being a big physical team, did not really cause any real problems. The plus point for them must be Munro's ball distribution - he must be the best in the league at finding players with his long ball!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Only problem is 9 times out of ten he finds the opposition.

Some nice touches from Thomson, who has great feet and the back four, despite the customary mistakes from Crichton, look like a solid unit.  Wederburn also showed his class today but was probably wisely substituted.

Special credit to Corbett, another solid performance and his vision in making the run for the second goal was sublime. He may have been lucky with the finish but was deserving of it.

All in all a good game to sit and watch and a wee bit of needle into the bargain.

A result against City will make things really interesting.

[Francesc Fabregas]

That was a well-deserved victory over a poor Forfar Athletic this afternoon! I thought today's performance was probably our most complete of the season so far. Stenhousemuir were the better team throughout and controlled the game. They looked resolute at the back, composed in the middle of the park and threatening in attack. Every player in maroon put in a solid shift and picking a man of the match in the Wee Bar afterwards was difficult - there were about seven viable candidates. 

Nicky Jamieson was superb at centre-back, reading the game expertly and dealing with Forfar's limited offense; Adam Corbett took his goal well (although little Lewis Sanderson could have done better in his attempt to save it); Nat Wedderburn dominated the midfield and his little piece of trickery inside his own penalty box to beat his man late on was the highlight of the contest (although seeing him hobble off the pitch with his foot strapped up is a concern); Mikey Miller was excellent; Mikey Anderson ceaselessly broke up play; Tam Orr put in a superb performance up front; and Robert Thomson showed some fantastic touches, including his first goal since his injury in October, and linked well with his partner. There was a lot to like from the Warriors today.

As good as the home side were, however, Forfar were dreadful - that was the worst display from an opposition side I've seen this season. They were narrowly second best in the first half but their performance completely fell off a cliff in the second. There was a five-minute spell where everything they hit simply went out of play. Tomas Brindley and Andy Munro were terrible at distributing the ball and blootered simple passes out of the park time and again, but no-one ever dropped deep to show for them. Kyle Hutton barely got a kick, Matty Aitken didn't involve himself and the only time they look remotely menacing was late in the game, after Wedderburn's removal, when they forced Stenny deep and hit the byline a couple of times. Big Peter Urminsky was a virtual spectator and the match was almost exclusively free from any kind of tension.

With Edinburgh City winning on Friday night, it was vital we kept pace with them, and we've put in a performance that's set the standard for the rest of the season. We now go into Wednesday's encounter against the Citizens with a spring in our step. It'll be interesting to see how we approach it - Wedderburn looks as though he'll miss out, so I'd drop Ross Forbes into his deep-lying midfield position and bring Adam Brown in as the number 10 (although Brown seems so far out of the picture, it's unlikely he'll appear).

These are things we can concern ourselves with next week - for the time being, let's enjoy a sterling three points!

[Vimto90]

Easiest three points I have seen.

Midweek is huge. Would take yon draw.

[Nigel Blackwell]

Really happy with that performance yesterday. We looked in control throughout the game and unlike a lot of games this season when we have hung on at best, or contrived to just throw points away, we never looked under any threat at all. Forfar were poor which of course was a combination of their inadequacies and our control of the ball, but I’d go as far as to say that bizarrely they were the worst team I’ve seen this season. The left back and PJ Crossan were spectacularly bad, and it was good to see that Andy Munro still thinks he’s a midfield maestro pinging 30 yard passes out the park.

It was good to see Michael Miller have a good game. He is a strong player at this level and consistently good. Michael Anderson continues to prove his doubters wrong including me, and Urminsky had his most composed game. Good handling and good kicking.

Only negative is the injury to Wedderburn. Doesn’t look good for him for Wednesday.

We’re definitely heading in the right direction.