A trip to Station Park to take on Forfar Athletic, buoyed by the midweek hiring of new boss Ray McKinnon, awaited Rose on Saturday afternoon. Robbie Horn made three changes to the side that faced Elgin City last weekend, with Mikey Andrews, Ross Gray and George Hunter all starting while at least a half-dozen players were ruled out through injury.

The lads were welcomed onto the park by a booming travelling support, but there was little in the way of entertainment in the early stages of the game. Stefan McCluskey directed a powerful header toward goal after 18 minutes, though skipper Jonny Stewart was at hand to head the ball clear off the goalline.

Kevin Smith and Craig Slater both had a go at goal from distance at each end, but the next best chance fell to Bradley Barrett from a corner. The wing-back’s lethal strike from inside the mixer was bravely blocked by a Forfar body, however.

The second half started positively for Rose, but it was the hosts who threatened to score first after the break. Roberto Nditi's blistering strike from inside the box was pushed out by Andrews, before Joshua Jack’s rebound was blocked by Neil Martyniuk. Andy Munro then proceeded to head just over from the ensuing corner.

With 15 minutes remaining, the home side took the lead. Smart build-up play mixed with determined fighting for the ball carried the ball up the park for Forfar, before the ball eventually fell to substitute Jaden Ferguson. The Hearts loanee’s silky footwork allowed him to open up his body and slide the ball beyond Andrews.

Rose threw everything at the hosts and just when an equaliser seemed out of reach, up popped George Hunter. An seemingly endless stramash in the penalty area finally broke to the forward, who took his touch perfectly and thrashed the ball beyond Marc McCallum to spark fantastic away day scenes from our incredible support.

A hard-fought draw earned by an injury-ravaged Rosey Posey side is a step in the right direction following a couple tough results on the bounce. Next up, we are on the road again to Ochilview as we take on Stenhousemuir.

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