Montrose 2 v 1 Albion Rovers

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Attendance : 316

Scorers ~ Montrose : Rogers (51, 58 pens). Albion Rovers : Sim (83).

On the back of an emphatic midweek cup victory over Elgin City, Rovers travelled north on league business but failed to show the same zeal of that match and pressed the suicide button giving away 2 penalties.

Bryan Felvus sent a shot whizzing a sliver wide of the mark in 4 minutes from a free-kick marginally outside of the Montrose penalty box. Montrose attacking forced Scott Friel to clear by heading over his own goal a few minutes later.

Former Cliftonhill player of the year Jered Stirling took a Montrose free-kick from the nearside and tried to sneak it at the near post but Jamie Ewings was ready for it. Paul Napier then had an effort he'd rather forget from far out.

Napier didn't give up and had a header caught by Ewings a minute later after the Rovers 'keeper had punched clear a high ball. Gordon Lennon was called into action in 23 minutes when he headed clear a Higgins cross. Montrose came very close a couple of minutes later when Cumming did the leg work to enable Rodgers to smash the ball off the Rovers post.

Joe Savage found himself receiving a pass close to the home box but facing the wrong way, he turned quickly but put the ball over the target. Rovers defensive frailties were evident when Montrose were able to keep the ball in the danger area for too long, luckily for Rovers they didn't manage a shot.

Lennon was the provider from the side of the box in 39 minutes but Chaplains header was poor. Scott Friel impressed when his shot from the far side would have gone in the near side but for a diving Reid stop.

Half-Time

The game came to life in 51 minutes when Gordon Lennon brought down Scott Michie in the Rovers penalty box in an uncharacteristically miss-timed challenge. Andy Rodgers put the ball past Ewings from the spot to take the lead.

Jamie Doyle gave Felvus the ball on the near side, the striker jinked past the lumbering Stirling and into the box but the ensuing low shot failed to trouble Reid.

Michie kept the ball down but his weak effort was wide of the mark then in 58 minutes things went from bad to worse for the Cliftonhill men when Jamie Ewings downed scorer Rodgers. Rodgers again took the spot kick and put it high into the goal just wide of Ewings who'd stayed on his feet.

Several substitutions followed and Chisholm ran up the wing crossing for McBride who failed to connect with it. Felvus kept off defenders at his back to cross to Chaplain but the resulting shot was wayward.

Montrose hadn't settled for 2 and in 74 minutes a Michie cutback was met by Greig Henslee but 'keeper Ewings managed to get in the way. Felvus was making space on the far side and the cross he eventually produced found Savage who leant back so far the ball cleared the high fence behind the goal, a steward was dispatched to retrieve it from the garden across the road.

Following another couple of substitutions Rovers pulled one back with Andy Sim driving the ball low and hard through a packed Montrose box into the goal. Sensing a point could be salvaged Rovers pressed hard for the remaining 7 minutes and Felvus on the ground saw McLeod clear his attempt off the line.

A quick Lennon throw-in to Felvus had the ball go high and wide. Michie gained a booking for time-wasting showing the pressure exerted by the visitors in the closing seconds.

In injury time Rovers were awarded a corner and Jamie Ewings sprinted from his goal to help out at the opposite end of the park but it was to no avail and referee MacDonald blew for full time shortly afterwards.

Summary

A very disappointing performance from the midweek cup heroes, even the usual outstanding players were disappointing.

Montrose : Reid, Cumming, Stirling (Fraser 61), Higgins, McLeod, Donachie, Napier, Adam (Stewart 79), Rogers (Kerrigan 63), Michie, Henslee. Subs Not Used: Tawse, Farquhar.

Albion Rovers : Ewings, Creaney (Walker 71), Lennox (Chisholm 60), Lennon, Donnelly, Friel (Sim 78), Doyle, Savage, Chaplain, Felvus, McBride. Subs Not Used : Bonnar, Thompson.

Referee : Scott MacDonald

Man of the Match - Andy Sim

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