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It was the cliche game of two halves today as Arbroath surrendered a 2 goal lead as Brechin City clawed back with two early second half goals for a share of the points.
Callum Smith came into the starting line up with Michael McKenna returning to the squad.
It was Arbroath who made the dream start with Jason Thomson heading in a Gavin Swankie cross after only two minutes.
It continued to get better for the Lichties as Thomas O’Brien held off a challenge to pass the ball into the path of Bobby Linn who curled in from the edge of the box to double our lead after just 19 minutes.
It was all one way traffic in the first half but Arbroath couldn’t get the crucial 3rd goal.
Brechin City brought on new loan signing Callum Hendry who had joined on loan from St Johnstone and he made an instant impact as he rode a few Arbroath challenges before finding Andy Jackson who curled past Darren Jamieson from the edge of the box in the 50th minute.
Only 5 minutes later and Jackson had scored his 2nd as he hit a close range header into the net from a Kalvin Orsi cross.
Play raged on from end to end with Brechin having at times 8 players behind the ball and happy to hit on the break.
Jason Thomson suffered a nasty clash of heads and was taken to hospital to get a head injury checked as blood ran down his face just after the hour mark.
Either side could have stolen a winner, but disappointing for the Lichties who could have scored 3 or 4 in a rampant first half.
However the Lichties still sit at the top of Ladbrokes League One, with a game against Annan Athletic to look forward to next weekend in the 2nd round of the Irn Bru Cup.
C’mon the Lichties
Possession – Arbroath 54% – 46% Brechin City
Total Shots – Arbroath 12 – 9 Brechin City
On Target – Arbroath 5 – 5 Brechin City
Off Target – Arbroath 5 – 4 Brechin City
Blocked – Arbroath 2 – 0 Brechin City
Corners – Arbroath 9 – 4 Brechin City
Fouls Committed – Arbroath 13 – 13 Brechin City
Arbroath
1 – Darren Jamieson
2 – Jason Thomson (Gold 65)
3 – Colin Hamilton
4 – Ricky Little
5 – Thomas O’Brien
6 – Mark Whatley
7 – Omar Kader (Denholm 64)
8 – Callum Smith (McKenna 64)
9 – Ryan Wallace
10 – Gavin Swankie
11 – Bobby Linn
Substitutes
12 – Kane Hester
14 – David Gold – 2; 65th
15 – Ryan McCord
16 – Michael McKenna – 8; 64th
17 – Finn Graham
18 – Danny Denholm – 7; 64th
21 – Darren Hill (GK)
Goals – Thomson 2, Linn 19
Yellow Card – Gold 89
Brechin City
01 – Conor Brennan
14 – Euan Smith
04 – Ryan McGeever (c)
06 – Euan Spark
03 – Sean Burns
07 – Kalvin Orsi
08 – Callum Tapping
15 – Giuliano Morena
10 – Jordan Sinclair (Lynas 81)
17 – Boris Melingui (Hendry 45)
09 – Andrew Jackson
Substitutes
12 – Aron Lynas – 10; 81st
16 – Jordan Tapping
21 – Harvey Dailly
23 – Callum Hendry – 17; 45th
19 Patrick O’Neil (GK)
Goals – Jackson 50, 55
Yellow Cards – Melingui 17, Spark 39
Attendance; 901
Officials;
Referee – Gavin Ross
Assistant Referee 1 – Ross Haswell
Assistant Referee 2 – Scott Robert Anderson
