By Connor Ryan
Despite coming from two goals down to equalise, Rovers fell to a late defeat at home with Forfar Athletic winning 3-2.
Substitute Kieran Dolan and man of the match Charlie Reilly were the scorers for Rovers today but with Forfar going 2-0 up just after the hour mark then adding a third with 8 minutes remaining, Rovers were left empty handed.
For the first 25 minutes of the match, both sides would see little chances as they tried to settle into the game with Forfar seeing more of the ball.
Forfar would break the deadlock on the 26th minute as Stefan McCluskey managed to beat an offside trap with Craig Slater’s rebounded shot falling to his feet giving him a tap in.
Rovers would try to get back into the game and came close in the 36th minute as the ball found Corey O’Donnell who managed to beat a defender in the right-hand side of the box, but his shot was blasted just over the bar.
Rovers were then forced into making a substitution through injury in the 39th minute as Max Wright couldn’t carry on and was replaced by Kieran Dolan.
Another great chance would come for Rovers just before the break after some good play in midfield would find its way to David Wilson who managed to find an unmarked Charlie Reilly in the box, but his strike was excellently saved by Mark McCallum managing to tip the ball over the bar. This save would ensure Forfar went into the break 1-0 up.
A few decent chances would occur for Rovers in the first ten minutes of the second half as David Wilson’s shot from distance flew over the bar and Charlie Reilly’s free kick, following Grant Anderson’s poor challenge resulting in a booking, went just past the post.
Just after the hour mark, Forfar would double their lead through Paul Crossan as his curling shot inside the box would find the bottom right hand corner giving Cammy Binnie no chance of stopping Forfar making it 2-0.
The deficit would be halved straight from kick off as Kieran Dolan’s wonder strike would curl over McCallum putting Rovers right back into the game as Rovers began to pile on more pressure.
Ten minutes after Dolan’s strike, Rovers would get their deserved equaliser as some great play down the right-hand side by Aron Lynas let him find David Wilson who then found the unmarked Charlie Reilly in the box who tapped the ball home into an empty net.
With 8 minutes to play, Rovers would fall behind as Steven Anderson put Forfar in front after some poor defending from a set piece allowed Anderson to get a shot away that Binnie couldn’t keep out.
Sean Fagan would have a chance for Rovers in stoppage time from a corner, but his attempt went well wide of the post and the full-time whistle was blown shortly after giving Forfar the win.
Rovers drop down to eighth position following today’s defeat and will feel they should have got more out of the game with the chances they had.