A late goal from Steven Doris was enough for the Red Lichties to snatch a victory over Motherwell on Sunday.
Dick Campbell’s side faced a mixture of first team and under 20 players in their first public friendly of the season with the manager taking a look at four trialists throughout the match.
Kane Hester had the first opportunity of the match for Arbroath against a mixed Motherwell side but his effort in the second minute failed to threaten Dean Brill.
Both sides seemed to be finding their feet in the first half, with chances few and far between. New signing Omar Kader had two shots shortly before the hour mark but saw the first blocked before the second was held by Brill.
Half time saw the return to Gayfield of former loanee Marc McCallum, the stopper appearing as a trialist in his hunt for a new club.
McCallum, like first half keeper Robbie Mutch, had little to do in his 45 minutes with Motherwell failing to have a clear shot on target. The visitors’ Lionel Ainsworth saw his effort shortly after the break deflected wide meanwhile fellow first team player Chris Cadden’s shot was weak and McCallum gathered with ease.
Arbroath thought they had taken the lead in the 66th minute through trialist substitute Junior Ogen; Kieran Kennedy’s header back to his keeper was short and Ogen nipped in to flick the ball past Brill however it landed agonisingly past the post.
Kader came close to scoring on his debut for the club four minutes later when he controlled a ball into the box before rifling his effort into the sidenetting.
Arbroath were dealt a blow in the 72nd minute when trialist Josh Thomson was forced off due to injury. Dick Campbell had used all of his available subs with Dunlop and Linn not fit enough to play so they were given the rare option of putting on a player they had taken off, Steven Doris coming back on twelve minutes after going off the park.
This almost worked in their favour with the returning hitman rattling the crossbar from long range with the keeper beaten.
The game seemed to pick up in tempo in the final ten minutes however it was the visitors who looked to be lacking in fitness in the latter stages of the game.
Colin Hamilton saw his fierce shot inside the box tipped over with Kader having his effort deflected wide before the latter played a part in the only goal of the game.
Kader supplied the pass that allowed trialist Phillips to send an inch perfect cross that fell at Doris’ feet for the striker to curl home with just two minutes left.
Dick Campbell was delighted with his side after the game, exclaiming that they more than deserved the win. The squad now prepare for their next game on Tuesday night when they entertain Turriff United.
Arbroath: Robbie Mutch (Marc McCallum (t) 46), Josh Thomson (t) (Steven Doris 72), Gary Phillips (t), Ricky Little, Colin Hamilton, Mark Whatley, Craig Wilson, Ryan McCord (David Gold 46), Steven Doris (Junior Ogen 60), Kane Hester, Omar Kader
Subs not used: Michael Dunlop, Bobby Linn
Motherwell: Dean Brill, Jack McMillan (Josh Stachini 50), Joe Chalmers, Kieran Kennedy, David Ferguson (Luke Watt 63), David Turnbull (Jordan Armstrong 84), Lionel Ainsworth (Jake Hastie 72), Ross McLean, Dylan Mackin (Alan Campbell 46), Craig Moore (James Scott 59), Chris Cadden
Subs not used: Barry McGuire, Josh Moore, Peter Morrison (gk)
