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Albion Rovers 0 v 0 Montrose |  |
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Albion Rovers 0 v 0 Montrose | |
| Irn-Bru League Division Three 7th November 2009 |
Attendance : 257
On the face of it Albion Rovers had a were runaway favourites to win against bottom dogs Montrose who’ve only gleaned three points from eleven previous matches but as one of those was when Rovers visited the Angus side nothing was taken for granted. As it happened Rovers were frustrated with their inability to put the ball into the net despite numerous chances.
In seven minutes Alan Reid crossed for Steven McKeown to shoot while but he was off balance and predictably the target was missed. Marc Pollock then passed the ball to Pat Walker only for Alan Campbell to intervene and cut it out.
Paul Stewart who was starting a match for the first time fired in a shot that was met with a fine diving save by former Hibs stopper Andy McNeil. At the other end of the pitch former Rovers frontman John Gemmell saw his snap shot be confidently dealt with by Derek Gaston in Rovers goal.
Pollock then provided Walker with the ball which he struck but failed to unduly trouble the Montrose ‘keeper. A minute later Chris Hegarty fired the ball well over the goal.
With half-time approaching Walker got his foot to the ball a couple of yards from the Gable Endies goal only for the effort to be stifled by the ‘keeper and a defender in combination.
Half-Time
Half-time saw a minor floodlight failure destine the second period to be played in relatively murky conditions.
Danny Ferry replaced McKeown in 54 minutes as the defender seemed to have suffered a dislocated shoulder.
A quality Fraser Milligan run ended with a poor cross into Rovers box being cleared before any attacker could get close to it. Play switched ends with Pollock advancing upfield and passing to Paul Tyrrell who in turn gave it to Ciaran Donnelly who proceeded to hit the ball wide of the mark.
Hegarty shot too high a few minutes later then Alan Benton of Rovers and Gemmell of the visitors were booked for an off the ball spat.
Donnelly tried his luck from distance but had given the ball too much elevation. A Ferry move ended when he lost the ball and it subsequently finding Donnelly who once again fired over the opposition goal.
In 85 minutes it seemed that Montrose had stolen the three points as Gemmell when got between a couple of defenders and slipped the ball between Gaston and his post. Rovers hearts started beating once more when the referee ruled it offside after seeing his assistant’s flag was raised.
Paul Watson tried himself to grab a late winner but his attempt from the edge of the box was wide of the mark. Then Benton for Rovers had a shot cleared on the line following a Donnelly free-kick.
Deep into injury time Watson had his shot deflected when it looked destined for the back of the net.
Summary
A decent performance form Rovers which completely lacked the killer touch.
Albion Rovers : Gaston, Reid, McGowan, McKeown (Ferry 55), Benton, O'Byrne, Stewart (O'Boyle 87), Tyrrell, Pollock, Donnelly, Walker (McCusker 65). Subs Not Used : Dignam, Ewings.
Montrose : McNeil, Hegarty, Sinclair (Nicol 71), Campbell, Tweed, Crighton, Milligan, Davidson, Gemmell, Watson, Stewart (Pope 80). Subs Not Used : Maitland, Tomana, Coutts.
Referee : Brian Colvin
Man of the Match : Ciaran Donnelly
