Montrose 1 v 0 Albion Rovers

Report by Forbes Prentice

Attendance : 287

Scorers ~ Montrose : Kerrigan (63)

A wet and windy Links Park welcomed a Rovers team with a point to prove after the disappointment of losing five goals away from home the previous Saturday. Two changes were forced on Coatbridge's finest with Mark Yardley out injured and Peter Cormack suspended.

With a bright start that included the ball in the net for the Rovers in four minutes (although flagged much earlier by the female assistant referee) and a David Farrell drive in eight minutes that drifted wide from 30 yards the travelling support felt that things were back to normal.

In 18 minutes route one football produced the best chance so far when Neil Bennett in the Rovers goal launched a wind-assisted clearance that bounced once and Paul McManus only just failed to connect with it with the Montrose keeper stranded.

The Coatbridge men had almost all the early play with Kevin McAllister outstanding, his willingness to be involved and his pace belie his veteran status whilst his touch and distribution showed why he has played at the levels he has in his career. Indeed a good Rovers move down the right on the twenty minute mark that involved five players, with McAllister pivotal to it produced a corner that was well held by the Montrose keeper.

The home side were struggling to contain the visitors and only threatened once or twice in the first twenty minutes when Kevin Webster and Scott Michie combined well down their right flank, however the Rovers defence never really looked uncomfortable.

A scrappy period from both sides followed that saw several offside decisions go against the Rovers but that didn’t produce much else with both sides relying too heavily on the long ball

The game then sparked to life, in 33 minutes Webster wasted a good a good opportunity after Graeme McCaul lost possession, in 34 minutes a Jim Mercer header was held by the Montrose keeper, and general sloppiness in the Rovers midfield provided Montrose with several good chances that they never made the most of.

With seven minutes to go before half time Jered Stirling was booked for a body check on the pacey Webster then one minute later a McManus foul led to a good save from Rovers keeper Bennett. For the next 3 or 4 minutes Montrose had a good spell with the visiting defence facing three corners in quick succession, one of which was just scrambled away.

The first half petered out with both side struggling to come to terms with the wind and rain.

Immediately after the restart Rovers charged up the pitch with an effort going wide in the first minute this led to a poor bye-kick falling straight to McAllister and a good through ball meant that Paul McManus won a corner that was well held by the Montrose number 1.

Rovers should have heeded the warning when a slack defence allowed Gibson a free header that was very well saved by keeper Bennett low to his left.

The best move of the match saw Andy Paterson and Jim Mercer combine well and when the ball fell to Jered Stirling he rocketed it from 25 yards off the bar with the keeper well beaten.

Instead of this inspiring the visitors they kicked back into sloppy mode and in 61 minutes a Black corner was scrambled clear.
Seconds later Montrose had another corner delivered and the Rovers defence seemed to develop a peripheral blindness that led to Kerrigan heading in unmarked from 8yards. Two minutes later Black again slung in a good cross that was deflected wide with keeper Bennett stranded and 3 minutes after that the visiting defence was all over the place as the ball was scrambled off the line with the keeper well beaten.

Albion Rovers did have much more possession than the home team but never really did anything with it, David Farrell was replaced by Iain Diack with Sean Sweeney carried off 4 minutes later to be replaced by Jordan Smith.

A good move involving McCaul, McAllister (again) and Mercer saw the home keeper saving the resultant header.

On 75 minutes Mark Molloy came on for Andy Paterson as the Rovers last sub, immediately McAllister crossed for McManus to pull a fine save out of Butter and a minute later Iain Diack headed a Kevin McBride cross wide from 6 yards when he really should have done better.

In the 80th minute a Rovers corner was cleared and from that Montrose substitute Sharp ran 35 yards unchallenged to fire a shot in that Bennett did well to touch over the bar.

Summary

Rovers had around 70% of possession without really turning it into a match winning performance, again they seem to rely too heavily on the long high ball and this tactic is not paying off. Manager Peter Hetherston may well be worried about this slump in form that has seen the Rovers drop off the pace in the promotion race at an early stage.

With Montrose away being the first hurdle in a Scottish cup campaign in two weeks time this must be classed as a morale booster for the home team, but Rovers surely will not get a better opportunity to progress into the third round (and a potentially lucrative tie with one of the bigger teams) if they can get back to early season form.

Best for Rovers McAllister, Mercer and McManus but Rovers Man of the match has to be Sean Sweeney.

Overall though the best player on the park by a long way was Montrose number 6 Steve Kerrigan who seems to be thriving in a deeper more creative role.

Montrose : Butter, Donachie, Ferguson, Smith, McQuillan, Kerrigan, Webster, Gibson, Michie (Sharp 61), Wood (Watt 80), Black. Unused Subs : Simpson, Farnan, Hankinson.

Albion Rovers : Bennett, Paterson (Molloy 76), Stirling, Sweeney (Smith 72), McCaig, Farrell (Diack 68), McAllister, McCaul, McBride, McManus, Mercer. Unused Subs : Fahey, Valentine.

Referee : Mike Ritchie

Man of the Match - Sean Sweeney

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