'The worst game I've ever played in' - Edinburgh City ace Danny Handling happy to win ugly at Annan

Danny Handling (inset) felt the opening 30 minutes of the match at Galabank was 'the worst game of football Ive ever been involved in'

Edinburgh City’s Danny Handling was far from complimentary about the match at Galabank but was delighted to emerge with a 2-0 win over hosts Annan Athletic.

Following a low-key first half in Dumfriesshire that saw Annan captain Steven Swinglehurst sent off ten minutes before the interval for violent conduct, the Citizens made their numerical advantage count with second-half goals from Liam Henderson and Handling securing a vital Ladbrokes League Two win for James McDonaugh’s men.

Annan hadn’t been beaten in the league a home since losing 2-1 to City on December 8 last year.

The victory keeps the Capital side just two points off the pace of league leaders Cove Rangers, who defeated Stenhousemuir 2-1 thank to a late winner.

“The first 30 minutes I think was the worst game of football I’ve ever been involved in,” former Hibs player Handling said. “I think I touched the ball once, twice maybe. But once they went down to ten, it was stupid from their captain and he should know better, it made it easier for us to play.

“They’re a big team so we were playing into their hands with the long ball. But we dug in, got the three points and showed our quality in the end.”

Boss McDonaugh was equally as pleased to pick up all three points.

“They’ve had some really good results recently, beating Cove too, so we knew it was going to be tough,” he said.

“They hadn’t lost at home since we beat them last December so that’s some record but I thought we deserved the win.

“The game was really scrappy until they went down to ten men but after that we took control of the game but we had to be patient.”

City travel to Forthbank next Saturday to play Stirling Albion in their next league game.