ARBROATH 3

Thomson (11), Little (20), Donnelly (53)

FORFAR 0

Arbroath assistant manager Ian Campbell was full of praise for the way his side batted away a potential Scottish Cup banana skin by comfortably disposing of Forfar in the Angus derby at Gayfield.

He said: “In a cup-tie, it can go either way if you don’t approach it properly. But the way we went about our business was terrific. We were fantastic from start to finish.

“Forfar are a well-organised team, but we were right on top of them and never gave them an inch. We passed the ball with a purpose and the way we won the ball back in transition made me very proud.

“We’ll take on anyone here in the next round and I’m sure there’s not many teams will want to play us.”

Arbroath dominated from the kick-off and Bobby Linn came close in the second minute with a powerful shot which Marc Mccallum could only palm into the path of Colin Hamilton, who saw his effort come off the upright.

However, the visitors almost stunned the Lichties when Scott Shepherd found himself one-on-one with Derek Gaston, but could only turn his effort wide of the target.

Arbroath turned the screw and it was little surprise when they went ahead in the 11th minute, Jason Thomson cutting in before guiding the ball into the far corner of the net.

The hosts had an effort cleared off the line before Ricky Little stabbed in a second from close range.

Any vague hopes Forfar had of clawing a way back into the game were wiped out on 52 minutes. The Loons won a corner on the right, but immediately conceded possession. James Craigen quickly sent Scott Stewart away and the powerful midfielder fed Luke Donnelly, who brilliantly turned past his opponent before sliding the ball beyond Mccallum for Arbroath’s third.

Forfar boss Gary Irvine said: “I was unhappy with the way we lost three goals, so it is disappointing, especially as it’s a cup-tie and it’s an Angus derby.

“It’s a sore one, but we’ll learn from it. Our full concentration from now on will be in the league.”