Albion Rovers 0 v 0 Montrose 
Division 3
1st December 2001
Albion Rovers 0 v 0 Montrose
Division 3
1st December 2001
Attendance : 246
The statistics for this match show that Rovers had 13 shots at goal against Montrose’s 4, but even more indicative of why the Cliftonhill people feel aggrieved at gaining only a single point is the fact that the "Shots On Target" figures are 7 and 1 respectively. However, this time the blank scoreline was not entirely due to bad finishing. Oh, sure, that might have been a bit better, but had it not been for Gary McGlynn in the visitors’ goal, the correct result would have been achieved without too much trouble.
In the first half there were three occasions when he saved shots which on any other day he wouldn’t have sniffed and after the break the fates were on his side when Charlie McLean - spotting him yards and yards out of his goal - sent in a perfect 40-yard lob which was eventually cleared off the line by the back-pedalling Frank Conway.
Rovers’ boss John McVeigh was less than enamoured at the result - and at the performance of referee Iain Brines who incurred the wrath of the fans of both teams with a string of bizarre decisions which resulted in the brandishing of eight yellow cards, but who failed to act on a number of other, more serious, occasions.
Minus core players such as Tom Tait, Jordan Smith, Chris Silvestro and Ryan McMullan, Rovers’ recast line-up again looked slightly unfamiliar, and in the opening few minutes they played with a worrying degree of hesitancy. Nevertheless, Montrose were unable to take advantage of this and after Chris Fahey had done brilliantly to divert a goal-bound Steve Kerrigan header for a corner, Rovers gradually gained the upper hand.
In the 16th minute, a McLean cross was met by the leaping Mark Booth whose header slipped agonisingly past a post, then a Montrose attack saw a superb David Gray 25-yard drive miss the junction of crossbar and post by no more than a coat of paint. The 24th minute saw a double save by McGlynn deny McKenzie and Harty, and not long afterwards, the ‘keeper earned his wages by blocking a shot from the onrushing Booth who looked certain to score. At this time, McLean was booked for an apparently uncharitable remark to the referee. With the interval looming, Colin Waldie slung a cross into the middle and Booth was once more left cursing his luck as McGlynn held his header on the ground.
If the first period had been an interesting football contest, the second certainly was not. It was nothing but a fragmented and frustrating forty-five minutes which yielded seven bookings, four substitutions and precious little in the way of flowing football. Rovers came close in 61 minutes with McLean’s great lob. Ten minutes later, McGlynn did well to stop a Bonar grounder, but hardly had the ‘keeper recovered from that action when he was left red-faced at having missed his kick when trying to clear a Conway pass-back. Fortunately for him however, nothing more serious than a corner resulted from his mistake.
Rovers kept pushing for the all-elusive goal and even in the last minute, captain Steve Hamilton fired in a good long- range effort which skimmed the crossbar. It was not to be however, and Montrose - whose recent record against Rovers has been diabolical - had avoided defeat this time around.
Albion Rovers : Fahey, McKenna, Lumsden, Hamilton, Easton, Booth, Waldie, McKenzie (Rankin 53), McLean, Harty, Bonar. Unused Subs : Struthers, McCormick, McLees, Shearer.
Montrose : McGlynn, Craig (Lowe 56), Ferguson, McKinnon, Christie, Conway, Allison, Johnston, Laidlaw, Kerrigan (Hutcheon 77), Brand (McKellar 63). Unused Subs : Craib, Butter.
Referee : Iain Brines
Man of the Match : Todd Lumsden
