Following on from last weeks awful performance at home to Morton, this week the Lichties hosted Brechin, who had won their last 9 out of 10 games! It was pretty obvious who the favourites were going into this game!
Arbroath didn't help there cause by conceding an early 6th minute goal. Graham Gibson won the ball down the left side, and after running down the line centrered the ball for Paul Ritchie to place it into the bottom left corner of the net. Not the best start we've ever had! A few minutes later Brechin nearly doubled their advantage. A Scott Walker header towards goal, from a corner, was eventually cleared after a goalmouth scramble.
With 25 minutes played, Arbroath had their first shot. A good run down the left hand side by Henslee saw him get to the line, and centre the ball for Alan Brazil, but his weak shot didn't really trouble Nelson in the Brechin goal. With 10 minutes left off the half, the Lichties had a good chance to equalise. A cross into the box from Gavin Swankie was met by the head off Alan Brazil, mixed with the shoulder of David White and sadly the ball went towards goal without any real pace in it.
So at Half Time Brechin went in with the 1-0 advantage. Their were signs that Arbroath could break down the Brechin defence though, and things were begining to look up at the end of the 1st half.
Brechin nearly scored 10 minutes into the 2nd half. A good shot from Steven Hampshire was easily saved in the end by Neil Inglis. On 60 minutes, Arbroath had their best chance of the game so far to equalise. A good run by Alan Brazil saw him have a shot from 18 yards out with his left foot saved by Nelson. If only Brazil had squared the ball to Gavin Swankie, who was in space with no defender near him, then it almost definately would have been 1-1.
Arbroath finally did get their deserved goal with 20 minutes left. A great ball from Alan Brazil was headed home well by Kevin McMullen. Brechin then restored their lead 2 minutes later. Graham Gibson rose above the Arbroath defence and headed home past Neil Inglis to make it 2-1 to Brechin, with 18 minutes left.
It looked like Brechin were going to go home with an undeserved 3 points, until the last minute. A half volley from the left wing into the box found Duncan McLean right on the goal line to head home. A well deserved goal, yet again.
A minute later the Full Time whistle blew, and Arbroath had their deserved point and had also stopped Brechin's winning run.
A great performance today, with every single player giving 110%. The fans got right behind the team (apart from a certain somebody who gave Neil Inglis abuse for the whole 90 minutes!!) and the team responded to the fans with some great performances. Having Alan Brazil boosted our attack, and he worked his socks off! Flyer never stopped running on the right hand side, and Gavin Swankie spent the afternoon tormenting the Brechin full backs with his footwork and pace. Bring on Ayr United in 2 weeks time!