Victory not enough as Forfar face the drop

Forfar’s relegation to League Two was confirmed on Saturday despite a second win in a row at Balmoor.

The Loons followed up Thursday night’s 2-1 League One victory over Clyde with another by the same score over Jim Mcinally’s Peterhead.

Clyde’s win over Dumbarton, though, left Forfar five points adrift of the Sons with one game to go.

An own goal by Daniel Strachan gave Forfar the lead in 56 minutes but Scott Brown levelled eight minutes later.

However, a mistake by home goalkeeper Josh Rae gifted Scott Shepherd the chance to net the winner for Gary Irvine’s side.

The interim boss said: “Our two goals were evidence of what can happen when you work hard as a team.

“Putting pressure on opponents can lead to them making mistakes. Then you get your rewards.

“I could feel a greater and growing confidence out there. They have a belief and they are building on that with every game.

“Unfortunately, the opposite has been the case for too much of this season. We got into a bad habit of losing games. And now we’ve run out of time.

“I’ve got a great reaction from my teammates. I’m thankful for that. But it’s come a little too late.”

Irvine saw plenty of positives in Saturday’s performance and added: “I’m gutted for the fans and the club.

“I’ve been here for three seasons now and the club means a lot to me.

“Today is a hard one to take. But today’s performance has to be seen as very much a positive.

“Change has been in the air for at least the last couple of weeks.”