Albion
Rovers 0 v 0 Montrose 
Division 3
30th March 2002
Albion
Rovers 0 v 0 Montrose
Division 3
30th March 2002
Attendance : 343
Although the gaining of a point is obviously better than nothing, a draw was not the result that either of these promotion contenders wanted from this nervy affair at Cliftonhill. However, given the way the game progressed and the amount of pressure enjoyed by Rovers, the big puzzle is how Montrose managed to sneak off back to Angus with their point. Added to Rovers’ woe is the fact that teenage striker David Carr suffered what seemed to be a broken nose in the last few seconds.
Latterly, as Rovers surged forward in search of the one goal which would have made all the difference, Montrose made no pretence at playing anything other than a containing game, frustrating the home players (and support) time after time with sheer volume of numbers in the vital penalty area. Added to this was the fact that early on they set out their stall to catch Rovers offside, a tactic - rarely seen nowadays - which they certainly used well.
Promotion for Rovers is still a mathematical possibility, but we’re fast running out of games and next week’s trip to Peterhead could well be the defining point of the whole incident-packed season.
Minus the suspended Stewart Easton and Jamie McKenzie, plus the injured Chris Silvestro and Paul Bonar, Rovers nevertheless started out well and took the game to Montrose from the whistle. Within the opening twenty minutes or so, Rovers, with luck, might have scored on at least a couple of occasions, but young Carr and Charlie McLean - combining well - just couldn’t get the correct touch on the ball at the important moment. It took 18 minutes for Montrose to get close enough Chris Fahey’s goal to cause any anxiety, but Ray McKinnon’s low cross found no takers and ran harmlessly out of play. Shortly afterwards, Todd Lumsden was dispossessed in midfield but the dangerous Steve Kerrigan fired his shot high, wide and not so handsome.
In the 37th minute, an excellent forward pass by Tom Tait was touched on by Carr to McLean, but the top scorer was just unable to make contact. Then, with only a couple of minutes remaining to the break, a great triangular Rovers’ move down the left ended with Steve Hamilton - under pressure - shooting wide by no more than a foot.
Within three minutes of the restart, there was almost disaster for Rovers as Fahey and Martin Harty got their signals mixed up. Fortunately however, the ball broke kindly and the danger was averted. In 56 minutes, manager John McVeigh signalled his intentions by replacing midfielder Mark Booth with striker Ryan McMullan. Two minutes later, McLean, with a splendidly judged pass, found Todd Lumsden inside the area, but he dallied just two long and the chance melted away. Iain Diack was brought on for the tiring McLean and Rovers stepped up the pace. Carr and Colin Waldie saw their fierce drives blocked in the crowded box and from the corner won from the latter, Hamilton’s nicely-flighted ball was headed over by Carr when two players standing behind him seemed to be in slightly better position.
Three minutes remaining, and Cliftonhill rose to salute the winning goal. Only it wasn’t. Lumsden’s attempt at a shot was partially defected into Diack’s path and all the lad had to do was steer it past McGlynn. He snatched at it however and somehow managed to knock it wide. As it happened, the stand-side Assistant Referee seemed to signal for offside, so it wouldn’t have counted. Then, in injury time, the same player did well to get clear on the right, cut in and fired an angled drive which the agile McGlynn happily turned away from danger. That was that. The points were shared and we’ll now basically have to wait and see.
There was a first-half booking for the visitors’ Ralph Brand and as things hotted-up in the closing stages, his colleagues Steve Kerrigan and Stuart Ferguson joined him in the wee black book, as did Rovers’ Colin Waldie.
Albion Rovers : Fahey, R Coulter, McKenna, Tait (McCormick 89), Lumsden, Booth (McMullan 56), Waldie, Hamilton, McLean (Diack 68), Carr, Harty. Unused Subs : Smith, Shearer.
Montrose : McGlynn, Allison, Craib (McKellar 74), McQuillan, Christie, Ferguson, McKinnon, Johnston, Leask (Hutcheon 68), Kerrigan, Brand (Laidlaw 85). Unused Subs : Mitchell, Butter
Referee : Andrew Hunter.
Man of the Match : Tom Tait
