SHIRE 4 FORFAR ATHLETIC 0

Simon Lynch went home with the match ball in his bag after hitting a headline grabbing hat-trick that saw Shire back to winning ways in great style with a 4-0 win over Forfar Athletic.

The striker was one of five Shire regulars affected by a recent sickness bug which decimated the team but he showed no effects as his goals had them 2-0 up at the interval.

The defence did its job in preserving the advantage in the second period when Forfar came flying back at Shire in the second period but a strike from Andy Rodgers on 82 minutes and Lynch’s third goal three minutes later gave the final scoreline a pleasing look.

An extra few days allowed Shire to get over the worst of the sickness bug that had ravaged team selections over the previous two matches.

Ryan Harding and Paul Hay, who both had to be substituted at half-time in Tuesday’s 3-0 defeat against Queen’s Park, returned to the starting eleven having shaken off the effects.

Derek Ure and Dean Richardson missed the midweek match with the illness but both returned to the squad. However coach Jim McInally decided to protect them from the effects of the bug by placing them on the subs bench.

Jamie Barclay and David Dunn made a return to the team after missing the Queen’s Park encounter, with Gavin Sorley and the suspended Paul Weaver missing out.

Shire made a bright enough opening and after just a minute’s play Eddie Forest sent a looping back post header just over the bar from David Dunn’s cross. A minute later Andy Rodgers tried his luck with a speculative effort from outside the box but it went well over.

Forfar responded after four minutes and when Shire failed to clear a corner  Mark McCulloch hit a fierce drive from 20 yards which went just over the bar.

After 11 minutes a mistake in midfield gave Dunn a clear run onto the Forfar goal but his shot from the edge of the box was mis-hit and went wide.

The game showed no sign of opening out as it went along but after 20 minutes Forfar’s Paul Watson missed his kick when well-placed after a clever pass from Ian Harty. Three minutes later Craig Donaldson’s cross was met by a near post shot from Jamie Stevenson which lacked any power and Brown saved.

The visitors had the ball in the net after 27 minutes when Templeman sent a looping header over Barclay from Martyn Fotheringham’s free-kick but the ‘goal’ was ruled out for offside.

But three minutes there was a breakthrough but it was for Shire. A Rodgers’ cross was headed on into the heart of the box for Simon Lynch to turn and shoot home from ten yards.

After 32 minutes Donaldson crossed from the right for Stevenson to have a go with a near post shot but Brown in the Forfar goal saved easily.

Six minutes later it was 2-0. Referee Beaton judged that Brown had picked up a pass back from Bishop seven yards from goal. Stevenson rolled the indirect free-kick to Lynch who squeezed it into the net despite the entire Forfar team standing on the goal line trying to block any holes.

The second period got off to a slow start with neither team able to put the other under much pressure. But after 54 minutes Barclay was called into his first serious action.

Jamie got down well to save from initially from Paul Watson’s shot but he excelled himself in getting up quickly to block a point-blank shot from Graham Gibson who had picked up the loose ball.

Five minutes later the Shire keeper was again in the thick of the action. Harty placed the ball into the path of Watson and his shot was pushed to one side by Barclay to avert the danger.

Shire, by this stage, were struggling to get a foot on the ball and David Dunn was withdrawn and replaced by Derek Ure. Within three minutes of making his appearance the Shire sub cracked in a shot from 20 yards that just fizzed narrowly past the post.

But the intense pressure which Forfar had managed to muster for a period of the second half slowly began to wane and Shire were able to exert more influence on the match as the clock ran down.

After 82 minutes Donaldson raced down the right and played a low ball into the box which Rodgers met at the near post, applying the deftest of touches to take it past Brown and into the net for the third goal.

Three minutes later Lynch collected the match ball for himself by scoring a delightful goal. Collecting a nice through pass he steadied himself before sending a superb low curling shot past Brown from the 18 yard line.

SHIRE ; Barclay, Donaldson, Hay, Forrest, Bolochoweckyj, Harding, Dunn(D. Ure 66), Stevenson9McKenzie 85), Lynch, McGuire, Rodgers(Johnston 84).

FORFAR ATHLETIC : Brown, McCulloch, K. Fotheringham, Bishop. Tod, Watson, Gibson(R. Campbell 63), M. Fotheringham(Sellars 63), Harty, Templeman, Mowat(Deasley 78).

REFEREE : J. Beaton

ATTENDANCE : 436.