There were only 4 main chances in the first half, with Brechin scoring their 2 of theirs and Arbroath coming close. After 10 minutes, Brechin controlled a through ball and slotted into the bottom corner past Neil Inglis in the Lichties goal. Afew minutes later Jay Stein hammered a volley at the top left hand corner from 20 yards out at a tight angle, but missed the target by afew inches. Craig Winter then missed a sitter for Brechin for 3 yards out, but soon enough Brechin doubled their lead. Kevin Byers, hit the ball hard and low into the box, and the ball deflected off an Arbroath defender, before hitting the back off the net.
Into the 2nd half and Brechin nearly got a third. Byers rounded Inglis but his shot was scrambled clear off the line by Jamie Bishop. Soon after, Arbroath scored. Jay Stein broke free on the left wing, and provided an inch perfect cross for Greg Millar to head home at the far post.
Brechin scored afew minutes later, when Steven Hampshire latched onto a through ball and cut the ball back from the by-line for Paul Ritchie to finish. With around 15 minutes left, Arbroath got one back from the spot. Mathu King was brought down in the box after good footwork, and Marco McCulloch slotted home from the penalty spot. The last 15 minutes was mainly Arbroath pressure, but with no clear cut chances, the Lichties failed to grab a draw.
Overall, considering this was our first game together, with 5 new signings featuring in the team I think we did reasonably well against good opposition. All the new signings looked very good, with Hugh Davidson outshining everyone else. Hopefully with afew more pre season games under our belt we can match Stranraer in the cup, and go on to achieve a top 4 position in the league. From what I saw tonight, this is definately possible.