Arbroath made it four wins on the spin as they beat Airdrieonians by four goals to move into fourth place in the Championship.
The victory over Airdrieonians was devastating and deserved.
It underlines just how far Dick Campbell’s side have come since their opening day defeat to Dundee United.
Goals from Michael McKenna, Jermaine Hylton, Jay Bird and Leighton McIntosh sealed a 4-0 victory on a day where Ricky Little was red carded.
An enthralling encounter ended 10 v 10 and saw the Angus side leapfrog Queen’s Park on goal difference.
Courier Sport was at Gayfield for the clash with Aridrieonians and here are four talking points:
Arbroath living up to ‘togetherness’ mantra
Arbroath have enjoyed some brilliant individual performances in recent weeks.
But there is one thing much more powerful than a solo piece of brilliance or a game-changing 90 minutes from one player.
Arbroath don’t just have the word ‘togetherness’ emblazoned on their players tunnel, they live by the mantra.
Never was that more evident than the way the players interacted with the fans during and after the game.
Tam O’Brien taking the time to give a young fan his @ArbroathFC captain’s armband at FT of their win over Airdrieonians sums up the togetherness between the players and fans of the Angus club.
A club that cares about its’ supporters. pic.twitter.com/LT2BQe2l1I
— 𝐄𝐰𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐡 📝 (@ewansmithpr) September 16, 2023
Kenan Dunnwald-Turan told Courier Sport a few weeks ago how much he loves life in Arbroath.
And with every passing week, the Arbroath fans love having him here even more.
There’s a buzz about Gayfield on and off the park and Turan gets it.
As Turan was subbed off the fans chanted his name and he ran a gauntlet of high fives, posing for selfies before being halted by party-pooping referee Craig Napier.
Skipper Tam O’Brien went out of his way to hand a young fan his captain’s armband.
Michael McKenna spent time with autograph hunters, signing the momento O’Brien had just donated.
Moments like this were the bedrock of the Arbroath side that went so close to winning the Championship in 2021/22.
And they sum up the growing feeling of ‘togetherness’ that is spreading throughout the club again.
Dick Campbell – talking tactics
Dick Campbell continually insists football is a simple game.
Not one for in-depth video analysis or deep-dive data scraping, Campbell has always believed in motivating players through effective man-management.
But don’t be fooled into thinking Campbell and his team don’t have some tactical nous too.
That has been evident since the 1-0 defeat to Queen’s Park before their four-game winning run kicked off.
Campbell’s men had been outplayed by Queen’s Park in Glasgow the week before.
But they changed their approach to get in their opponents faces at Gayfield and to, effectively, mark dangerman Dom Thomas out of the game.
The tactics worked.
Against Airdrieonians, they were facing a side that likes to pass the ball for fun.
But instead of standing back and allowing them to play their game, Arbroath were hard (but fair) in the challenge and direct in their own attacks.
Airdrieonians’ defence didn’t like pressure on them and their keeper Joshua Rae was rounded for three of the goals.
Derek Gaston – keeping it clean for Arbroath against Airdrieonians
Derek Gaston has moved into second spot in the all-time clean sheet record at Arbroath after Saturday’s victory.
He’s now just four shut-outs away from equalling Craig Hinchliffe’s tally and you’d imagine he’ll smash it this term.
Gaston looked comfortable all afternoon and the Arbroath defence had a ‘thou shall not pass’ feel about it.
But to put into context how well he did, he is only the second keeper in 41 games to prevent Airdrieonians from scoring.
Only Jack Walton at Dundee United has kept a clean sheet against Rhys McCabe’s free-scoring side since a 1-0 loss to Kelty in February 2022.
Red card Ricky Little
Ricky Little has been such a key player for Arbroath over the years.
Currently in his testimonial season, he’s a sure-fire Hall of Fame player and he will win many games for the club.
Saturday wasn’t his day as he was red carded for two bookings.
But let’s contextualise this a little. The referee Craig Napier has previous with Little.
Napier sent Little off against Hamilton towards the end of the relegation scrap last year.
The red card was later rescinded and it was clear from the reaction of both Little and Napier to the first yellow card that the incident hasn’t been forgotten about.
It’s hard to argue against either red for Little or Liam McStravick but Napier is quite card happy.
He rarely allows games to flow, doesn’t talk players through games the way some other officials do and he is not slow to book players.
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