Forfar Athletic manager Dick Campbell heaped praise on his players after their astonishing 5-1 victory over near neighbours Brechin City at Glebe Park.
“The opening 45 minutes was as good a performance as I’ve seen from the players and as a manager you don’t often see that type of standard,” he said.
“No one would have lived with us during that opening period and I thought that we were absolutely outstanding.
“To be honest, it could have been a lot more and it’s great to come here for a New Year derby and achieve a result and performance like that.”
The Loons took the City defence to the cleaners during a scintillating and clinical first-half performance during which they scored four goals.
Martyn Fotheringham scored the opener after just seven minutes when he expertly chipped City keeper Calum Antell from the edge of the box, and the Loons doubled their lead 10 minutes later when former Brechin striker Chris Templeman turned home defender Graham Hay before firing home a superb right-foot drive.
The Loons looked dangerous every time they moved up the park and City had no answer to the speed and directness of their attacks.
The visitors made it 3-0 when Darren Dods volleyed the ball home from close range and it was 4-0 three minutes later when Dale Hilson, who was proving to be a constant torment to the City defence, moved into the penalty box and directed a wonderful angular drive past Antell.
City brought defender Paul McLean on for striker Derek Carcary at the beginning of the second-half in an effort to stem the flow of goals but they almost went five goals down in the 68th minute when the Loons were awarded a penalty after Templeman went down in the box after a joint challenge by Ewan Moyes and Craig Molloy.
However, Antell brilliantly saved Iain Campbell’s spot-kick.
City managed to reduce the deficit in the 75th minute when Bobby Barr who had worked tirelessly throughout blasted the ball into the roof of the net from two yards out but Forfar completed the scoring and regained their four-goal advantage nine minutes from time when Templeman slid in at the near post to divert an Omar Kader drive past Antell.
City manager Ray McKinnon said: “I would like to apologise for our performance. We defended horrendously in the first half and never gave ourselves a chance.”
“We got punished during the opening 45 minutes and deservedly so. Our performance simply was totally unacceptable.”