Thomas McHale took positives from a home draw after hard graft helped Elgin City recover from a first half blow.
The Borough Briggs hosts struggled in the first 45 minutes and fell behind before the break to a deflected Stefan McCluskey finish.
Gavin Price’s side improved in the second half after some stern words from the management and struck early after the restart through Conor O’Keefe.
The point saw them slip a place to fifth in the League Two table, with Forfar also dropping into third after four games.
But goalkeeper McHale stressed: “Forfar came up here as one of the favourites and it was tough in that first half.
“We gave them too much time on the ball and the goal was always going to come if we sat back.
“Through hard work, we got back into the game and got the goal at the start of the second half, same as we had the previous week.
“I think we were probably the better team in that second half, although we weren’t maybe creating too many clear cut chances.
“We were the dominant side and had more possession, and a lot of time in their half.
“The fact that we were able to react to that first half performance so well is a big positive for us.”
Busy afternoon for Elgin custodian
Elgin had McHale to thank for minimising the damage in the first period with several good saves.
The Plymouth-born England ‘C’ cap added: “That’s my job.
“I’ve got to do that for the team. I was disappointed with the goal as the deflection put me off a bit but it was one of those.
“I was happy to make those saves as the boys have got me out of trouble plenty of times in the past.
“Forfar didn’t really trouble us in the second half and we dealt with everything – defensively we looked solid.
“It’s a tough league and there are good teams right through it, but if we can keep performing and take the positives into a big game in Edinburgh on Friday night, we can get a result there.”
Elgin struggled to gain a foothold in the first half against a well-organised Forfar side.
Former St Johnstone Scottish Cup-winner Steven Anderson helped snuff out the threat of Elgin goalscorer Kane Hester.
McHale got down low to palm away a Craig Slater drive after 12 minutes, but the opener came eight minutes later.
Caley Thistle youngster Harry Nicolson, on for his home debut after injury to Craig Little, performed well, but was powerless to stop McCluskey cutting across the edge of the box and firing home a shot which took a deflection to deceive McHale.
A massive kick by Forfar keeper Mark McCallum former Elgin striker Matty Aitken clean through before McHale stayed big to make another crucial block, with Aitken knocking the rebound wide.
Elgin’s fortunes changed dramatically after the break.
Inside 90 seconds, Hester took the ball on the edge of the box and slipped it left to O’Keefe who struck low and hard into the far corner of the net.
📽️🆕 Gavin Price- Elgin City 1-1 Forfar Athletic
The Gaffer gave his thoughts after this afternoon's draw with @ForfarAthletic at Borough Briggs.
Full interview here 👉https://t.co/nb6xIunezB
⚫️⚪️ pic.twitter.com/O9pjw0H0qf
— Elgin City F.C. (@ElginCityFC) August 21, 2021
Neither side could add to the tally and Price admitted: “The first half was poor, there’s no getting away from that. We were deservedly 1-0 down but still in the game thanks to Thomas.
“We just need to start these games better and be on the front foot and be a bit more aggressive.
“We were too passive today, we did come to life in the second half and got the goal back quickly through Conor’s finish.
“But it’s always disappointing not to come away with the three points in a home game like this.
“Losing points in games like this could cost us at the end of the season.”