SHIRE 2 FORFAR ATHLETIC 1

Andy Rodgers was the name on every Shire fans’ lips after an impressive display which saw the striker score and set up Simon Lynch for a goal as the team ended a three game losing streak with a 2-1 home victory over Forfar Athletic.

By his own admission Rodgers has not always been at his best this season but his electrifying display, especially during the first half, could have seen him score at least a hat-trick.

Two goals to the good at the interval, Shire’s second half performance never reached the same heights and after Kevin Gordon scored for Forfar there was an anxious fifteen minutes to negotiate, but the three points augur well for the future.

After naming the same starting eleven for six successive weeks Jim McInally was forced into wholesale changes by a mini-injury crisis. Stephen McGuire, Craig Tully and David King were all unfit and replaced by Craig Donaldson, Derek Ure and Eddie Forrest.

As anticipated, Gavin Sorley replaced Jamie Barclay in goal with Shire’s number one keeper on international duty with the Scotland under-21 team in Arzerbaijan. Lawrie Spence took over as the substitute keeper.

Jim himself was, for the first time this season, able to take his place in the dug out at the end of his mammoth 16 game touchline ban, pendin g his appeal against a further six match suspension.

Shire made light of their enforced changes and should have been a goal up after three minutes when Andy Rodgers beat the offside trap and cut in from the left but his angled effort clipped a Forfar heel and went behind for a corner.

From the flag kick the ball broke to Paul Weaver who forced Ally Brown into a smart from a 20 yard effort. Not long later a Jamie Stevenson free-kick found Richardson who crossed from the left and Brown collected the ball under pressure from Simon Lynch.

Ten minutes in a long ball from Paul Hay allowed Rodgers to out sprint the Forfar defence to attempt a lob over Brown which was just narrowly wide and high.

But Shire were not to be thwarted. Lynch chased a lost cause pass down the inside left channel and, while the Forfar players assumed the ball would run behind for a goal kick, the Shire striker kept it in play and swung over a cross which Rodgers swept into the net from ten yards.

The first quarter was pretty much one way traffic and after 20 minutes Shire should have been 2-0 ahead. Again Lynch was the provider, chipping over a cross that was half cleared only as far as Forrest on the edge of box who sent a powerful half volley just wide of far post.

But the team could not keep up the pace of the onslaught and Forfar clawed their way back into the game. The visitors gained a good deal of forward momentum and Sorley was forced into a couple of last-ditch clearances from his goal line.

For all their possession Forfar really couldn’t create any clear cut chances and their frustration was evident when Chris Templeman and Ross Campbell were booked in the space of just a couple of minutes for fouls.

Rodgers got Shire back on the front foot five minutes before the interval with a great solo run but his shot from the edge of the box didn’t match the build-up work and Brown made a comfortable save.

Rodgers was enjoying a fine first half and after 43 minutes he turned his man to create a clear run down the left and his ball into the box was fired home by Lynch from just outside the six yard area to make it 2-0.

As expected, Forfar tried to hem Shire in at the start of the second period and managed a flurry of corner kicks but their efforts amounted to no more than an Ian Harty shot that drifted wide of the far post and a Martyn Fotheringham shot which Sorley parried.

But although Shire found themselves under increasing pressure they were still able to mount some rapid counter attacks and on 61 minutes Stevenson played Richardson clean through but he shot well over the bar.

After 71 minutes a great piece of passing play ended with Stevenson being placed in a god goalscoring position but his effort was straight at Brown. Three minutes later there were worries those misses could prove costly.

A long throw-in from Andy Tod was headed on by David Mowat into the path of substitute Kevin Gordon. The former Shire striker mis-hit his shot but it still deceived Sorley and Forfar had the lifeline of a goal.

But they couldn’t create the kind of chance that might have brought them an equaliser while Rodgers, at the other end forced Brown into two brilliant saves, the best of which was a chip on 80 minutes which Brown somehow managed to palm away when a goal looked certain.

SHIRE : Sorley, Hay(McKenzie 81), Richardson, Donaldson, Bolochoweckyj, Forrest, Weaver, Stevenson(McGuire 81), Lynch(Dunn 86), Ure, Rodgers.

FORFAR ATHLETIC : Brown, Mowatt(McNally 81), I. Campbell, M. Fotheringham, Tod, Tulloch, Harty, Templeman, R. Campbell(Deasley 68), K. Fotheringham, Gibson(Gordon 68).

REFEREE : K. Clancy

ATTENDANCE : 365.