Stenhousemuir 1 Forfar 2: John Baird lifts side above former club

Former Stenhousemuir striker John Baird returned to Ochilview and lifted Forfar above the Warriors in the league table with the winning goal.
Stenhousemuir lost out to Forfar. Picture by Alan MurrayStenhousemuir lost out to Forfar. Picture by Alan Murray
Stenhousemuir lost out to Forfar. Picture by Alan Murray

Two goals in a four minute period saw the Loons ahead through Dylan Easton and then Baird, despite Morgyn Neill reducing the deficit Forfar held on for all three points.

Stenhousemuir lookedoff the pace early on after the week’s rest although Sean Dickson was a buzzing threat all over the pitch throughout the game.

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They were awoken by Dale Hilson hitting the bar on 18 minutes before almost setting up a bizarre opener as his cross was met with a volley from Warriors man Connor Duthie but Graeme Smith was able to get a

touch on the ball before it was eventually cleared off the line.

That only served as a warning though and Stenhousemuir found themselves behind when Dylan Easton weaved his way through the defence and slotted past Smith.

Four minutes later the advantage was doubled as Hilson played a through ball for Baird to fire home.

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Stenhousemuir started to create chances following this with Mark Ferry, Colin McMenamin and Morgyn Neill all failing to find the target. As the game headed towards the break Duthie and Alan Cook saw efforts blocked while Ruaridh Donaldson failed to find the target from the edge of the box for the hosts.

The Loons almost added a third after the restart when a long ball found Hilson and he raced towards goal but his effort cannoned off the post with Smith beaten.

The Warriors pulled a goal back in the 55 th minute as Neill headed home following a Duthie free kick.

Both sides had chances after this as Cook forced a save by McCallum from distance before Mark Hill saw his effort parried by Smith.

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Substitutions broke up the flow of play with the game entering the final stages and sub Lewis Moore was denied by Smith in the 83rd minute.

In the third minute of injury time Hilson had another shot parried and Baird cross the ball to the back post for Murray Mackintosh only for him to hit the post.