Montrose Roselea

MONTROSE ROSELEA v KIRRIE THISTLE

EAST REGION NORTH DIVISION

SAT FEBRUARY 12^th 2011 

With Westview Park Kirriemuir being deemed unplayable after the heavy overnight rain the match was switched to Broomfield Park which was looking excellent with a firm surface meeting the players come kick off. Kirrie Thistle had not played since November and were desperate to get a game with Roselea keen to get past their stop/start spell.

The home side were minus the suspended Jordan Reoch and for various reasons Paul Whyte, James Collier, Ewan Graham, Mark Fotheringham, Johnny Mitchell & Colin Page. The only plus was the Craig Watson made a welcome return. With both first choice central defenders missing, faith was put in the untried Miller/Mustard partnership. 

Roselea: Mcleod, Rae, Miller, Mustard, Doug Craig, Hood, Urquhart, David Craig, Kennedy, Watson & Riach. Subs: Strachan, Aitken, McKellar, Reid & Brand.

Roselea were first to be tested and after a scramble in the box Miller’s attention was focused on the referee by claiming for a shirt pull whilst the ball fell to Scott who shot narrowly wide. No award was given. 

In 8 minutes Roselea’s slow start continued when the visitors took the lead. Some very slack marking at a thrown in gave Kirrie two easy options. ATAGAN picked the ball up square 30 yards out he was able to advance and strike a great shot which beat Mcleod from 25 yards. 

Roselea finally found their way into the Kirrie last third in the 17^th minute and Craig played a great ball to Hood whose near post cross had to be held by keeper Patullo with Roselea looking to pounce. 

In 22 minutes a short corner from Kennedy was crossed first time by Craig and Watson’s excellent flick was cleared of the line at the far post by a Kirrie defender. 

Roselea spent most of the first half trying to match Kirrie’s formation and only when the pack was shuffled did they start to find their feet. 

It was not until the 42^nd minute that the game saw its next chance. Again Watson rose well to header a Kennedy corner just wide with his early jump just putting him off. This was followed by a string of Roselea corners but a firm Kirrie defence were not in the mood to surrender their lead.  

HALF TIME: Montrose Roselea 0 Kirrie Thistle 1 

With the Mangers half time “pep” talk still ringing in their ears it was Roselea who were the sharper looking team when the 2^nd spell started.

Kennedy played a short free kick to Craig and Urquhart headed just wide of the post in 50 minutes. 

A couple of minutes later they had their best chance of the match. A strong run from Riach saw him playing the ball to Urquhart who flicked on and Watson was just spoiled from scoring by a great tackle from Ogg. The ball broke back out to Riach and his cross was met by Urquharts head and although the header was on target it was too weak to bother Patullo. 

Doug Craig had to turn a dangerous Farquharson cross behind in 55 minutes as Kirrie came back into things. 

Strachan replaced Hood in 63 minutes for the home side. 

In 65 minutes Roselea finally got the breakthrough that their second half display was meriting. A long kick out from Mcleod was flicked on to WATSON and the predator did what he does best and calmly side footed home from 10 yards. 

This seemed to spur Kirrie into immediate action and first a Scott drive was  well held by Mcleod then a dangerous cross had to punched away by the home keeper. 

Roselea were looking livelier and they took a 2-1 lead in 74 minutes which had a touch of fortune about it. Kennedy picked the ball up 10 yards inside the Kirrie half and his miss hit cross came back off the bar and fell to URQUHART who did a good job in following up and scored from 4 yards out. 

Straight away Kirrie retaliated again and Johnny Watson should have squared things when his diving header went wide after it was a certainty to score. 

Roselea replaced Riach with Aitken in 77 minutes. The sub made an instant impact by winning a free kick then flicking Craigs free kick on and Urquhart just failed to connect. 

Kirrie Thistle were not finished and Watson broke on the right and sent in a low ball which deceived everyone as it ran along the 6 yard box with no takers. The match was squared in 88 minutes when the pressing Kirrie side won a penalty. Substititute Stuart FARQUHARSON picked his spot and sent Mcleod the wrong way to level matters. 

Rae went close for the gutted Roselea side with a long range effort which went just over. There was further drama to unfold as Roselea won a penalty 4 minutes into stoppage time. Aitken was clever and got himself in front of Smith who clipped his heels. Up stepped Doug Craig and to everyones disbelief he shot high over the bar 

FULL TIME: Montrose Roselea 2 Kirrie Thistle 2 

This was a result which Roselea would have been pleased with considering the dismal first half showing however to have the opportunity to take all three points with the late penalty was disappointing to say the least. Downfield now take top spot by a point although Roselea have two games in hand.

Roselea take a break from League action with an attractive trip to Spain Park, Aberdeen to meet Banks o Dee in the 3^rd Round of the GA Cup. A bus is leaving the Golf Inn at 11.45 for the match which kicks off at 2.15pm. Names are still being taken and the bus is free of charge- Please contact the Golf Inn on 01674 672047. Jordan Reoch will serve the last match of his two game suspension and hopefully some of the injured & unavailable players will also be ready for action again.