Brave Dan fires back to lift Forfar
DANIEL SCALLY went from starring in front of 20,000 on the other side of the atlantic to 15 months out of football in the space of one injury-time collision.
But the winger will not be caught wallowing in what might have been when he can help Forfar pull off their own whirlwind journey up the leagues.
ex-kilmarnock player Scally returned to Station Park last month after a torrid time since a leg fracture while playing for Northern Colorado Hailstorm in the US midway through 2022.
leaders Stenhousemuir come calling today as the attacker eyes a third successive start and wowing the loons fans who couldn’t see him first time around due to Covid shut-outs.
reflecting on his Stateside adventure, he said: “you think, ‘What an opportunity’.
“and it gets taken away from you for nobody’s fault, an accidental collision and i ended up with a bit of a bad injury.
“it was the 93rd-plus minute and a long ball. i’ve run off the wing on the blindside of the centre-half, he has tripped, fell on top of me and all his weight has gone into the side of my leg.
“Not knowing i’d a fractured fibula, there is me jumping back up and trying to chase the ball back down. you can see me in the video starting to limp and go, ‘Something is not right there’.
“Purely accidental, big daft centre-halfs for you! it caused me to be out for the second half of the season. that led into me coming home in November 2022, trying to get back fit, wee niggle after niggle, and having to get a wee operation to clear it all up.
“in terms of the experience, it was brilliant. We drew an MlS team in the cup, real Salt lake away, in front of 20,000 and managed to beat them 1-0.
“there were talks of getting a call-up for the uS under-23s because i qualify through my grandfather. it just shows how football can drastically change.
“i don’t want to sit about and feel sorry for myself. i have a good support network around me, which helps a lot.”
His reintroduction to Scottish football has coincided with Forfar going eight unbeaten to sit 10 clear of trouble and eight from the final play-off spot.
Scally added: “if you describe the perfect scenario just now, it would be we make the play-offs – as soon as you get into them, anything can happen.”