BRAVE EFFORT FROM UNDER 19s IN FINAL
Forfar Athletic 2 Hamilton Accies 5
Forfar Athletic’s Under 19 squad finished runners up in the SFL Under 19’s League Cup after being defeated 5-2 by a strong Hamilton side.
Over 300 spectators turned up to cheer on the young Loons who played tremendously against a full time side who had at least four players with first team experience.
The Hamilton side started the stronger with striker Andrew Ryan flashing a shot just past the post and Eamonn Brophy firing over.
Despite the home side getting more and more possession, the Accies took the lead after twenty minutes when Brophy was left with the simple task of nodding home from a Lee Kilday cross.
They doubled their lead in the 26th minute with Ryan’s shot took a deflection off Ben Smith deceiving Loons custodian Ross Salmon.
Ryan notched his second of the night three minutes later when a cross into the area was nodded out towards him and he lashed home from 16 yards.
Straight from kick off Forfar raced up the pitch and reduced the deficit immediately as excellent work from Paul McLellan on the right saw him beat two defenders before crossing for Kerr Hay to head into the net.
Hamilton had been focusing their attacks down Forfar’s left side constantly with all three goals so far coming from that side and when they made it 4-1, it was no surprise to see it had come from there again, Brophy also nabbing a second after Andrew Ryan set him up.
The Accies almost added a fifth five minutes before half time, Ross Salmon doing well to push a dipping shot from Darren Lyon over the bar.
HALF TIME: Forfar Athletic 1 Hamilton Accies 4
The second half the Loons started much stronger and within two minutes had pulled another goal back, Jamie McLachlan sending in a low cross for Kerr Hay to tap in from close range.
Forfar were enjoying the majority of the possession in the second half but couldn’t find the space to create chances, while Hamilton saw efforts from Watson, Brophy and Johnston go wide of the mark.
After 66 minutes Gavin Thomson missed an excellent opportunity when McLellan ran through the Accies half and cut inside a defender, threading the ball to Thomson who saw his shot from inside the box blocking by an onrushing defender.
Accies right back Ryan Finnie had been bombing up and down the park all night almost grabbed a goal for his efforts with 8 minutes to go, his long range effort touched over the bar by Ross Salmon. Finnie was celebrating two minutes later when a strike from the same area took a wicked deflection off defender Ben Smith and looped over Salmon into the goal.
FULL TIME: Forfar Athletic 2 Hamilton Accies 5
Match report by Lee Smith
Forfar Athletic: Ross Salmon, Alastair Smith, Scott Mollison (Liam McIntosh 84), Connor Gray, Jack Syme, Ben Smith, Paul McLellan, Liam Keiller, Gavin Thomson, Kerr Hay, Jamie McLachlan (Matthew Adam 77).
Subs not used: David Steel, Frank Lannen, Leighton Davidson.
Hamilton Academical: Jordan Allan, Ryan Finnie, Scott McMann, Aldin El Zubaidi, Lee Kilday, Darren Lyon, Eamonn Brophy (Daniel Armstrong 83), Craig Watson, Andrew Ryan, Greg Docherty (Darren Smith 89), Craig Johnstone (James Martin 69).
Subs not used: Jack Harrison, Chris Shaw.
