Montrose 1 v 1 Albion Rovers 
Division 3
12th April 2003
Montrose 1 v 1 Albion Rovers
Division 3
12th April 2003
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Attendance : 282
Scorers ~ Montrose : Kerrigan (12). Albion Rovers : Bradford (40).
This hard-earned draw extended Rovers’ unbeaten run to a magnificent twelve matches - but the loss of the two points could still ultimately prove to be a fatal blow in the quest for promotion. Nevertheless, the cause is by no means lost and a sterling finish to the league programme can still bring the reward which would mean so much.
Against a Montrose outfit which operated well above the expectations indicated by their position in the league table, Rovers played well enough in patches, but the cutting edge which was prevalent in many previous matches seemed to have deserted them on this occasion. Indeed, instead of the usual incisive on-the-ground play, there were just too many high balls, most of which were easily mopped-up by the home defence.
The first item to be noted was a 10th minute booking for home defender Barry Donachie and from the resultant free-kick, Jered Stirling’s drive was wide. Two minutes later, slackness in Rovers’ defence allowed danger man Steve Kerrigan the time and space to meet a Kevin Webster cross to the back post and head the opener low past Scott Shearer. There’s no doubt this was a shocker for Rovers to concede, the only saving grace being that it was so early in the proceedings.
Rovers Rally
Five minutes later, home defender Graeme McCheyne was yellow-carded and once again Stirling’s free-kick came close, with ‘keeper Gary McGlynn doing well to parry the ball away from goal. Midway through the half, Andy Paterson fired over a cross which Mark Yardley dummied for John Bradford to have a pop at goal. Unfortunately, the striker failed to connect properly and the ball bobbled tamely into McGlynn’s arms. After some remarks by Peter Cormack saw his name go in the book, Chris Silvestro’s shot was easily saved by the Gable Endies’ goalkeeper. Shortly afterwards, Silvio was cautioned for a rather rash tackle.
After a moment of hesitancy at the edge of Rovers’ area almost gifted a second goal to Montrose, Jordan Smith and Silvestro both saw their shots sail over the crossbar. Then, with only five minutes remaining until the interval, Rovers scored the equaliser completely out of the blue. A long bouncing clearance from the back eluded the backtracking home defence and Bradford was on the spot to hook the ball behind McGlynn. Now with their tails up, Rovers laid siege to the home goal and three times in the space of about a minute , McGlynn performed wonders to prevent Kevin McAllister, Todd Lumsden and Bradford from increasing the lead.
Second Half
Eight minutes into the second half, Jordan Smith did splendidly to meet a dangerous cross from the right and head clear, then little by little, Rovers began to exert more pressure. Ian Diack was brought on to replace McAllister and seconds later Silvestro tried his luck from 25 yards, the ball flying a couple of feet over the bar. In 79 minutes, the tiring Bradford was replaced by Chazz McLean and from a cross by the new man, Cormack blazed in a drive that might have been going to do the trick until blocked.
Rovers tried hard to get the all-important winner, but this time it just wouldn’t materialise and just a single point was added to the total.
Montrose : McGlynn, Donachie, Ferguson, Gibson (Brand 80), McCheyne, McQuillan, Webster, Riley, McDonald (Henderson 85), Kerrigan, Thomson (Conway 75). Unused Subs : Johnson, Hankinson.
Albion Rovers : Shearer, Paterson, Stirling, Smith, Cormack, Lumsden, McAllister (Diack 70), Silvestro, Yardley, Bradford (McLean 79), Mercer. Unused Subs : McCaig, Fahey.
Referee : Andrew Hunter.
Man of the Match : Jordan Smith
