Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Elgin City move five points clear of bottom spot in League Two with victory over Forfar Athletic

Ryan MacLeman's first half strike proved decisive against the Loons.

Ryan MacLeman netted Elgin City's winner against Forfar Athletic. Image: Bob Crombie
Ryan MacLeman netted Elgin City's winner against Forfar Athletic. Image: Bob Crombie

Elgin City moved five points clear of bottom spot in League Two with a 1-0 victory over Forfar Athletic.

Ryan MacLeman’s goal proved enough for the managerless Black and Whites to extend their unbeaten home run to six matches, despite Robert Jones seeing a penalty saved shortly afterwards.

The result was enough to move City level on points with eighth-placed Forfar, and on to the coat-tails of East Fife and Stranraer in mid-table.

This was the third meeting of the sides already this season, with the previous two encounters failing to produce a single goal.

Ross Draper named the same side for a third match in succession, with the Englishman continuing in a midfield role.

Ross Draper in action for Elgin City. Image: Bob Crombie.

City were looking to bounce back from a narrow 1-0 loss to Dumbarton on Saturday but they began brightly, without managing to trouble goalkeeper Marc McCallum in the early stages.

A decent cross by Robert Jones was cleared by the Loons at the near post, with skipper Matthew Cooper unable to keep down his strike from the edge of the box.

Draper was next to threaten for the home side, with a powerful drive from the edge of the box which was well gathered by McCallum.

City were not to be denied on 13 minutes however, when the ball broke for MacLeman at the back post to send a crisp low strike into the far corner.

Elgin had a glorious chance to double their advantage just two minutes later when the lively Draper was taken down by Finn Robson inside the box but Jones saw his spot-kick tipped wide by McCallum.

Forfar had seldom threatened, with their first attempt coming when Josh Skelly blazed a free-kick well over the bar on 21 minutes.

Ryan MacLeman nets the winner against Forfar Athletic. Image: Bob Crombie.

The home side pushed for another goal, with Liam Harvey unable to direct a near post effort goalwards from a Rory MacEwan cross.

MacEwan tried his luck with a looping effort from distance which was deflected wide, before Jones saw his corner cleared by Skelly from the resulting corner.

The Loons’ best first half opportunity came on 38 minutes when Thomas McHale was unable to grasp a Callum Moore delivery, with Mark Whatley failing to hit the target after the ball dropped to him inside the box.

Forfar introduced Kieran Inglis at half-time, with the midfielder narrowly off target with a fizzing drive from long-range.

McHale had to react quickly to palm away a Craig Thomson delivery which was creeping towards his far post.

Forfar continued to mount pressure, but the home side were standing up to the attacks that came their way.

Elgin City defend against Forfar Athletic. Image: Bob Crombie.

McHale was forced into action again on 72 minutes, stooping low to gather a Euan Mutale effort at the second attempt.

Mutale had another opening just 60 seconds later after taking an excellent touch to cut inside Cooper, however the City goalkeeper was on hand to smother at his feet.

The visitors came close again when skipper Andy Munro’s strike from long-range drifted just wide.

Forfar threw everything at the home side but City held on to guard their clean sheet.

Conversation