PS Cup Group match Forfar v Livi

Well the new season is upon us before last season actually ends (Sundays Euros and Copa finals will essentially be the real end to last season) and these group games are notorious for surprises. That being said we can and should be beating Forfar comfortably. So needless to say I’ll expect a share of the spoils and Forfar sneaking the extra point on pens.

Looking forward to seeing the first choice xi for this one, I just hope we get stuck in and give them a seeing to.

Wonder if we'll be any better at taking pens this season, i'd have been making that a condition before signing any players. Never mind having to sing a song in front of everyone, take 10 pens and score at least 8 of them.

Under 18’s played a 4 team tournament at Bathgate Thistle last week, beating the hosts on the Saturday but losing to St Roche’s in the final and missing a pen during that match.

Not sure we'll see his first choice 11 for this.Suspect it will be a mix match of various players getting a run out during these group stages.I get that its our first competitive game,but I reckon he'll hold back from showing his hand until the league campaign begins.Albeit going into the unknown with this squad, they should be professional enough to get off to a flier in this game.What could possibly go wrong.‍�.

Half time 0 0.Not there but apparently Livi dominating according to the stats.Just need that finishing touch.Pars 1 0 up at Spartans.Hopefully step it up 2nd half.

Comfortable 2 0 to the Lions.Guess the result was more important than the performance.Dumfermline top of the group on GD.We can readdress that in games to come.Goals from Sole and Muirhead, should have been more,but a winning start to the competitive season.Happy days..

Muirhead and Sole continuing their pre season friendly form, and scoring both our goals. Those 2 are going to be big players for us. Stephen Kelly too is a big player for us, glad we've managed to keep a hold of him.

Well I made the trip, I like seeing the first competitive match to gauge where we need to improve and compare how we start a season with our progress or lack thereof over the season.

First half was pretty well controlled by us but we created very little. I can remember one good save by McCallum, I think from Pittman and a Muirhead shot that went over the bar. Apart from that there were some nice diagonal passes but they didn’t really develop into anything. Sole looked decent in flashes.

Second half saw some robust challenges mainly by Forfar. With a Forfar player on the deck we played on, Clarke just kept it in on the bye line with a chip into the mixer and Sole rattled in a volley to open the scoring early in the second half. If we thought that might open the floodgates we were mistaken as Forfar started to dominate possession with Blair Malcolm dictating the play. George made a couple of saves and there were a number of loose passes by us.

A number of substitutions happened over the next half hour which gave us a new impetus, particularly Smith and Winter who both looked lively. Winter won a free kick on the edge of the box that looked potentially inside the line but Muirhead rifled the free kick low and it somehow got through McCallum’s attempt to save it.

Based on what I saw I’d be starting Winter ahead of Yengi. Montano had a relatively comfortable game at CB and he might get less injuries playing there.

Noticed in the pre season games Muirhead was decent at set plays, good to see us having a goal threat from free kicks.

Also good to see subs making a difference, last season just felt like the bench hadn't much quality, apart from Martindale keeping Brucie sitting there right enough, but wasn't many game changers to make a difference for us.

Been a bit disappointed by the lack of impact Yengi has in games so far, thought he'd be a standout this season, early days though.

Yengi won next to nothing in the air and looked slow on the deck, he looked much more of a handful last season but as you say it’s early days.

Positives to take are we won, we scored twice and we kept a clean sheet. We had players starting who looked like decent acquisitions and subs came on that were looking to make an impact.

We will need a shhhhhhoooooodj improvement on this if we want to challenge at the top end of the division but I am confident we will see the team improve as they gel.

Tell you what.Davie must be wetting himself tonight after those results.Forfar beating Dunfermline 2 0 and Spartans humping Cove 5 0 to top the group.Livi just behind on GD with a game in hand.Sorry Pars,can't wait till Saturday, there for the taking..

Yeah two surprise results in our group showing we can take nothing for granted, we really have to heed those warnings and be right up for Saturday to get the upper hand in the group.