Christmas came 2 days late as the men in red and white gifted Arbroath 3 points in a game which must rank as the worst performance by the home team this season. Last week, at Ayr, the first half performance was dire but, this week, the entire 90 minutes was unacceptable, at least, to the home support. The 100 odd Arbroath fans who made the journey down the A9 would return home in a happy mood as the victory saw them move off the foot of the table.

The Binos’ line up showed 3 changes to the team which lost at Ayr. Chris Scotland replaced the injured Roycroft at the heart of the defence, Paul Hay returned in place of Ferguson whilst Glancy was dropped in favour of James Allan. Whilst Scotland did nothing wrong and Hay gave his usual 110%, James Allan was a major disappointment. He has gained rave revues from his displays in “bounce” matches but, today, he was brushed off the ball too easily to be of any effect.

The match got underway with Arbroath kicking against a stiff breeze but that is something they should be used to. It was a good 7 minutes before there was an incident of note when Allan played the ball to McLean. The Binos’ top striker saw his shot hit off Inglis and over the bar. This corner was quickly followed by another corner, both of which proved fruitless.

It was another 25 minutes before there was any further excitement as the Binos won two corners in succession. In both cases they were whipped over by the left foot of Devine causing some panic in the Arbroath defence but nothing else.

Arbroath took the lead in the 35th minute when Brazil held off a challenge from Nugent, who had been booked a minute earlier, and beat Hogarth although the keeper did manage to get a hand on the ball. Unfortunately, it was not enough to stop the ball going into the net. 1-0 to Arbroath.

The Binos responded immediately and Hay turned on the edge of the 18 yard box but his shot went straight at Inglis. Scotland then became the second Albion player to be booked for a foul on Swankie. Hogarth had to be alert to prevent a viciously dipping, swerving shot from Brazil going in for Arbroath’s second.

Half time came with Arbroath leading 1-0. Normally, during the half time break, it is an opportunity to discuss the happenings of the first half and indulge in the usual banter regarding how many numbers you were away from winning the half time draw. I am pleased to report that, for the first time since the club moved to Forthbank, I was the winner of the half time draw pocketing £112-00 into the bargain.

Unfortunately, this did nothing to lift the spirits as the second half began with bookings for Devine and Hay as the referee seemed to be taking out some kind of retribution against the Binos for the fact that he had been unable to get his pre match cup of tea.

Following a shot from Swankie which went wide of the post, the Binos made the first change when Glancy replaced the injured Galloway in the 53rd minute. 2 minutes later, Arbroath increased their lead when a speculative cross from right back McMullen was missed by everyone and, somehow, finished up in the back of the net. 2-0 to Arbroath. Worse was to come, 4 minutes later, when Brazil beat the offside trap to round Hogarth and slot the ball into the empty net. This effectively finished off the match as you couldn’t see Arbroath conceding 4 goals as they had done against Alloa last week when 2 goals up.

The Binos made a double substitution with MacDonald and Wilson coming on in place of McLean and Gibson. Allan swivelled inside the box but sent his shot over the bar. Allan then had a shot deflected for another corner.

Arbroath made their first change with Cusik replacing Marc Miller. Bishop then became the first Arbroath player to be booked. With 5 minutes to go, Farquharson replaced Mac Donald.

Thankfully, the referee only added on an extra minute and he brought the match to a close with Arbroath the victors 3-0.

On today’s performance it is not beyond the realms of possibility that the Binos will become involved in the relegation fight. With the exception of Forfar, all the teams below Stirling picked up points today and the Binos now face a tough trip to Alloa. The only hope is that the good start we made will have seen us pick up enough points to stave off the threat of relegation. However, Arbroath have shown that they will be no pushovers whilst Sandy Clark seems to have turned around Berwick’s fortunes. The second half of the season may be interesting, to say the least.

Gibson and Gethins have now left the club and, if truth be told, neither will be sorely missed. It is now up to Moore, with the help of the chairman, to bring in new players to give the likes of McLean a kick up the backside as there is little competition for places in the team. The players have the skills but it just seems to be a matter of getting the right blend with, perhaps, one or two additions.

Finally, I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year and, hopefully, 3 points on Saturday.