Preview Forfar Athletic

The Boxing Day fixture sees Dunfermline travel to Station Park to face Forfar Athletic.

Following a string of bad results their long serving manager Dick Campbell was relieved of his role last weekend and after seven and a half years the Loons have a new manager in Gary Bollan. Bollan who played for no fewer than eight Scottish league club arrives at Forfar after two and a half year spells at both Livingston and Airdrieonians. The 42 year old Dundonian will be well versed in what to expect from Allan Johnston's league leaders.

It is a measure of how much things have changed that when Dunfermline played Forfar in the league first time around it was the Angus side who were the league leaders. This season Dunfermline first played Forfar Athletic in the Petrofac Training Cup. That Tuesday night's 3-0 win at Station Park was overshadowed by the double leg break to Ryan Williamson in the closing minutes but the winning goals came from a Michael Moffat penalty (32), Faissal El Bakhtaoui (44) and another from Michael Moffat (82).

The League game at Station Park brought the Pars just their fourth win in the last ten visits. It was all thanks to a Joe Cardle hattrick with Andy Geggan rubbing it in with an added time fourth.

In the last twelve meetings, Dunfermline have won five, Forfar four and three have been drawn.

There have been 69 previous league fixtures between the clubs. In total Dunfermline have won 40 league encounters to Forfar's 19 and ten matches have been drawn. The Pars took only one point from a possible twelve last season and amassed just five from the season before but this season Forfar must be sick of the sight of the Pars who they have played three times including the Petrofac Training Cup tie, conceded eleven goals and scored none.

The season started well for Dick Campbell's Forfar Athletic. They had good wins in the early rounds of the Petrofac and League cups, they won their first three league games and by the time they won at Brechin City on 12th September, Dunfermline Athletic were the only team to have got the better of them over 90 minutes. Then things went badly wrong, Forfar have not won any of their twelve subsequent league games.

Recent Form

Last Time Out

DUNFERMLINE (v Stenhousemuir): Sean Murdoch; Andy Geggan (c), Marc McAusland (Shaun Rooney HT), Ben Richards-Everton, Jason Talbot; Michael Paton (Ryan Wallace 66), Shaun Byrne, Josh Falkingham, David Hopkirk, Michael Moffat (Joe Cardle 41), Faissal El Bakhtaoui.
SUBS NOT USED: Lewis Spence, Rhys McCabe, Mickael Antoine-Curier, David Hutton (GK).

FORFAR ATHLETIC: (v Albion Rovers: Rab Douglas; Andrew Black, Kevin Nicoll (Kerr Hay 45), Michael Rose, Michael Travis, Iain Campbell; Martyn Fotheringham (Derek Young 74), Bryan Hodge, Danny Denholm (Craig Smith 88); Martin, Gavin Swankie. 
SUBS NOT USED: Chris Templeman, Michael Kennedy, Dayle Robertson, Jason King (GK)

Referee will be John McKendrick

Come on ye Pars!

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