KINNOULL v MONTROSE ROSELEA

McBOOKIE.COM EAST PREMIER LEAGUE
SAT MARCH 21^st 2015 

Roselea travelled to Tulloch Park, Perth to face bottom side Kinnoull and were looking to get their first win in four games. The home side were not having the best of seasons having shedded most of last years squad however they were boosted by their first League win of the season the previous week at Edinburgh Utd and also ran Boness Utd close in a cup match. 

Roselea travelled without the suspended Michael Cruickshank who picked up a three game ban for his red card against Jeanfield however fellow sending off Calum Watson was clear to play by virtue of having received two yellow cards. Paul Taylor missed out through work and Scott McDowell was out injured. 

Tulloch Park was looking very spring like and the groundsman was still putting the finishing touches to the soft pitch with a cut and roll as the visitors arrived. 

Roselea: Mcleod, Findlater, R Taylor, Whyte, Thomson, Rae, Anderson, Reoch, Tringham, Collier & Reid. Subs: Mitchell, Watson, Greig, Smith & C Taylor. 

Roselea started brightly with Reid almost springing the offside trap in the first couple of minutes before Collier did so in four minutes and his shot was deflected just wide of the post for a corner. 

In 18 minutes Anderson hurled a long throw to Collier and Reid not having time to think snapped his chance over the bar. 

In 19 minutes Kinnoull had their first attempt when Mackie hit a rasping shot from all of 30 yards but Mcleod was behind it and held safely. 

Kinnoull took the lead in 22 minutes with a poor goal from a Roselea point of view. Fleming threw in a free kick which bounced on the penalty spot leaving Mcleod in no mans land as he came out and Jamie GILL flicked the ball over him and into the corner of the net. 

On the half hour mark it was Kinnoull who caused problems with a free kick again. Thomson gave away a needless foul on the corner of the box and Gill flighted the ball in with Mcleod getting a touch but the ball finally came off a Kinnoull head before going behind. There was one more scramble in the Roselea box again from a free kick and when the ball bounced off Mcleod it was Calum Rae who finally cleared. 

Half Time: Kinnoull 1 Montrose Roselea 0

Roselea made a couple of changes at the break with two first half bookings, Findlater & Thomson being replaced by Watson & Mitchell. The changes seemed to give Roselea a far better balance and shape and they started the second half strongly. In 51 minutes Roselea were out of luck when the post prevented them scoring. Reoch sent in a diagonal ball which Watson flicked past the keeper, Reid could have slotted home but perhaps thought he was offside before the ball came off the post and Gaffney cleared for Kinnoull. 

Roselea continued to press Kinnoull and Mitchell had a prodded shot from 8 yards out which keeper Christie failed to hold and somehow Reid missed the rebound from point blank range. 

With Roselea pretty much pinning Kinnoull back there was always going to be a slight risk of a break away and in what was Ross Mcleods only involvment of the second half he held from McCaughie at the second attempt in 68 minutes. 

Reid was then given offside when he timed his run perfectly to latch on to a Mitchell header but was incorrectly given offside. With 20 minutes remaining keeper Christie got a great touch to a corner with Whyte ready to pounce then he saved well from a Ryan Taylor 20 yard drive. In 80 minutes

Reid looked offside when he was through and looked to hesitate in guilt and as a result his pass to Watson was intercepted when the goal was gaping. 

It was starting to look like it wasn’t going to be Roselea’s day and that was further confirmed when Ross Mitchell hit a cracking 20 yard shot when the ball came back from a corner and the ball hit the corner of the bar and post before bouncing on the line and then straight into keeper Christie’s arms. 

The day was complete when Rae was shown a straight red card for retaliation in 82 minutes leaving his team mates to scrape for a point. 

Roselea made a final change with Greig coming on for Tringham. The ten men pounded the Kinnoull goal for the remaining minutes but there was to be no breaks and the home side held out and adopted some gamesmanship to ensure the clock run down. Referee Fordyce added five extra minutes but it was not enough for the visitors. 

Full Time: Kinnoull 1 Montrose Roselea 0

This was a typical banana skin of a game for Roselea and it turned out that way with them losing a poor goal before pounding the home goal for much of the game. The home side set out their stall and managed to frustrate the visitors. Roselea were out of luck though and the home side would probably concede that they rode their luck on several occasions in the second half. 

With St Andrews beating Dalkeith Thistle 2-1, Roselea slipped down to third in the table and with a host of clubs on their tails they will need to start gathering more points to mount a challenge and indeed guarantee their safety in the Division. 

This week Dundonald Bluebell visit Broomfield Park in the League. Bluebell were the first team Roselea beat in their 9 game winning run however they should have had that match tied up before Roselea came back to win 3-2. Dundonald beat Bathgate 4-3 to move into 5^th place, a point behind Roselea with 2 games in hand. The match kicks off at 2.30pm and Hospitality is available, please contact Roselea for further details.