The curtain comes down on City’s Premier Sports Cup campaign tomorrow afternoon with a trip to Station Park to face local rivals Forfar Athletic in the final Group E fixture.
While neither side can now progress to the knockout stages, there will be no shortage of motivation as the Angus neighbours renew acquaintances in their first competitive meeting for seven years. City will be looking to continue the steady improvement shown throughout the group stage and carry that momentum into the start of the league campaign.
Andy Kirk’s side will also be wary of a wounded Forfar Athletic outfit. The Loons suffered a heavy 8-0 defeat to Livingston in midweek and will be determined to respond in front of their own supporters.
TEAM NEWS
City will be without Kieran Inglis for the foreseeable after the midfielder suffered a serious injury during last weekend’s match against Stenhousemuir. Having initially come off with a rib injury, further assessment also revealed a burst bowel which required emergency surgery. We’re pleased to confirm that Kieran’s operation was successful and everyone at Brechin City sends him our very best wishes for a full and speedy recovery.
Kieran joins Spencer Moreland on the sidelines but Manager Andy Kirk will be hoping to bolster his squad with the addition of another new face before kick-off.
MANAGERS COMMENTS
Speaking on the narrow defeat against Stenhousemuir last weekend, Manager Andy Kirk was pleased with the efforts of his players. He said, “I thought we were good in the game. We ended up losing the ball for the first goal but it was a great strike into the top corner and for the second goal we should have cleared our lines but again the player sticks it in the top corner.
“Overall I thought we controlled large parts of the game and I think the players were unfortunate not to take something from the game.
“We’ve had a tough run in pre-season and this cup- we’ve come up against Arbroath, Dundee, Partick Thistle, Livingston and Stenhousemuir and they are all tough tests for the boys. Although we’ve lost some poor goals I have to give them full credit to the boys as they’ve stuck in. We have to stay strong mentally and believe in what we are trying to do and there has been a lot of evidence in some of our play that we’ve got a lot more to come once everything settles down and we can get back on the training pitch again.“
Dale Hilson netted his first City goal since joining the club this summer. Andy said, “He’s an experienced player and he will help the players around him – that’s why we’ve brought him in. He’s strong on the front line and can sniff out chances. It was important to give him minutes against Stenhousemuir as he hasn’t really done any pre-season with us at all so we will need to get him fit but he will be a good player for us.”
Looking ahead to tomorrow’s match, Andy added, “This week we’ve had two training sessions and will hopefully be a bit more fresh for the game against Forfar. It’s another game of football that’s there to be won and they’ll be thinking exactly the same. We want to finish strong as we’ve gradually improved throughout the tournament.
“The opening game against Partick was a tough one for us but we had some good moments in the second half against Livi and then there were a lot of positives to take from the Stenny game. Forfar will be another tough game and a different challenge but hopefully we can get something from the game which will give the players the reward that they deserve.”
MATCH OFFICIALS
Tomorrow’s match referee is Iain Snedden, assisted by Michael MacDermid and Jack Leslie.
ADMISSION INFORMATION
Tomorrow’s match at the Parkgrove Stadium at Station Park kicks off at 3pm. Admission prices are £15 for adults, £10 for concessions (aged 65+ and 16-18 year olds) and £5 for U16’s when accompanied by a paying adult. Tickets can be purchased online HERE or there will be cash-only turnstiles in operation on the day.
LAST TIME OUT
Despite matching their Championship opponents for much of the game, City ultimately went down a narrow 2-1 defeat against Stenhousemuir last weekend. Mikey Anderson had put the visitors ahead with a fine strike only for Dale Hilson to net his first City goal to equalise on 43 minutes. The sides were level for little more than a minute as Dale Carrick netted from the edge of the box on the stroke of half time.
Forfar Athletic meanwhile will head into tomorrow’s game off the back of an 8-0 thumping away from home against Livingston on Tuesday evening.
PREVIOUS MEETING
Forfar Athletic 3-0 Brechin City – 13 July 2019
A City side severely depleted by injuries, suspension and registration issues went down 3-0 to the Loons in the last meeting in a League Cup tie 7 years ago. With only nine fit outfield players available, Manager Barry Smith was forced to come out of retirement and play the full 90 minutes, while nine players made their competitive debuts for the club.
Michael Travis headed the hosts into the lead on 20 minutes before Jordan Kirkpatrick added a second just before the break with a fine 25-yard free kick.
Midway through the second half, Andy Jackson rounded off the scoring and it was an entirely subdued and respectful celebration from the former City favourite, which came as no surprise to those in attendance given the way ‘Jacko’ conducted himself throughout his 7 years at Glebe Park.
