Montrose's match yesterday was one of the most northerly to survive the
big freeze, beaten only by Caley Whistle losing to Sellick in Inverness
and Aberdeen continuing their search for a Lifetime Achievement Award for
Services to Comedy with a draw against Queen of the South.
Prior to kick-off, I'd have been happy to hear that the match was off due
to the weather, but once I was safely seated in the Angus Arena, I found
the match quite enjoyable.
Montrose continued their efforts to win matches by passing neatly and
letting Jamie Winter shoot every time he's within 40 yards of goal.
He had a number of chances, and seemd to get closer and closer to a goal
every time the ball left his right boot.
Sure enough, when it came, his goal was practically the last kick of the
first half, rocketing past Alex Mitchell and into the net.
And the home side looked comfortable enough in the second half. Nothing
spectacular, but Annan offered little in the way of genuine threat.
Step forward Dougie "Kneeheid" Cameron. Fancying himself as a balder,
whiter, slower, less gifted Roberto Carlos, Kneeheid had taken it upon
himself to act as a marauding (if one can call Dougie's ponderous gait
"marauding") wingback.
Unfortunately, this meant that Dougie was caught out of position in the
77th minute, allowing nippy little bugger David Cox to go tearing past
him and into the six yard box.
There was a tangle of legs, Cox inevitably went down, and referee Paul
Robertson pointed to the spot.
Kneeheid saw a straight red card and Aaron Muirhead stepped up to slam
home the equaliser with the penalty.
Montrose were the better side, and they could have scored a few if
Mitchell had had a poorer game. He kept almost everything at bay today,
particularly Winter's long range efforts.
Still nearer the bottom of the table than the top, but Montrose are a
better side than their league position suggests. The more settled the
team becomes, the more I would expect that to become evident.
Man of the Match: Scott Johnston again impressed with a jinky performance
wide left, creating Winter's goal with a neat square ball. Cameron
actually looked decent until he ran out of puff and saw red late on. But
it was Winter who was the stand out. But for Mitchell's acrobatics, he'd
have scored a barrowload.