The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Burns steps up to help seal points for Loons
Forfar Athletic boss Stuart Malcolm hailed goalscorer Sean Burns after he came in from the cold to help sink Stranraer.
Burns was a late addition to the team at Stair Park after Callum Tapping pulled up injured in the warm-up.
And the former Brechin City man repaid Malcolm, giving him his first start since October, by netting the valuable fourth to extend Forfar’s advantage over Stranraer to eight points at the bottom of League One.
The Forfar boss said: “Callum had a hamstring injury that he picked up through the warm-up and he did not feel he was quite ready to go and play in the game or give what his levels have been at.
“He was brutally honest and said he thought a change was best.
“Sean Burns came in and I thought he was absolutely magnificent.
“He worked up and down his side, scored a goal, showed real quality at times and a real effort. He deserves massive credit because he has not played in a couple of weeks.
“To come on and give that performance on a really heavy, boggy pitch was really commendable.”
Forfar opened the scoring when former Stranraer man Mark Docherty rose unmarked to head home Ross Forbes’ free-kick just after the quarter-hour mark.
That advantage was then doubled when a quickly taken short corner was turned home by Dale Hilson.
Stranraer gave themselves hope after the restart when Robert Jones capitalised on Marc McCallum’s failure to hold on to a cross.
But Forfar immediately restored their two-goal advantage when Forbes slid in from close range.
Burns then grabbed his first goal for the club after a poor clearance from Max Currie before Jones pulled a consolation back for Stranraer with seven minutes left.
Stranraer boss Stevie Farrell has vowed to battle on to try to save the club from relegation.
He said: “Ultimately, it is my responsibility. I brought these players to the club and we are sitting bottom of the league, deservedly so.
“But, me being me, I am not going to give up.”