MATCH ON SUITS THE LEA!

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MATCH ON SUITS THE LEA!

Posted by Roy Gill on Dec 05 2015 at 04:00PM PST

MCBOOKIE.COM EAST PREMIER LEAGUE

HADDINGTON ATHLETIC V MONTROSE ROSELEA

05/12/2015

There was an unexpected surprise when Roselea’s match at Haddington went ahead despite all other Lothian matches being put off in the morning. The match referee passed the surface playable however with rain and 50mph winds expected it was then down to the home team to make the decision to let the visitors travel. With the Forth Road closure Roselea had already taken the decision to travel via Stirling with an added half hour but they knew that they would not be affected by any Bridge tail backs which were evident on Friday.

Roselea included new signing Scott Watson and Craig Anderson retuned after a spell of injury to boost the team

Roselea: McLeod, Dalgarno, Sturrock, Whyte, Collier, Rae, Greig, Anderson, Calum Watson, Scott Watson, Cruickshank. Subs: Campbell, Smith, Thomson, Mowatt, Taylor

As it turned out the wind was never in the 50 mph bracket and Desmond failed to produce anything nearly as a bad as an average Broomfield Saturday. The pitch was also very playable however it was sure to cut up and nobody would envy the Haddington Groundsmans job after the game.

In The first 15 minutes the hosts looked like the better side and their first chance came when Draper put in a good cross to the back post but McLeod judged the flight of the ball and held it well.

Roselea then had a half chance when a Greig cross headed by C.Watson was easily held by Amos in the Haddington goal.

Draper then put in another cross in and Devlin eventually laid it back to Wright and his low shot went straight into the arms of McLeod when he should have done better.

Greig then played a good through ball into the path of Cruickshank who forced a good save from Amos.

in the 43rd minute Roselea had a free kick just outside the box. This was crossed in by Greig and SCOTT WATSON rose well head home for his first goal for the club.

A minute later Roselea then almost doubled their lead when a low Anderson cross was almost turned in by Greig with Amos scrambling to smother the ball on the line.

HT Haddington Ath 0 Montrose Roselea 1

in the 47th minute Sturrock put the ball in the box from the left back area and the ball rolled through the legs of Forbes and CALUM WATSON smashed it past the keeper.

In the 58th minute Haddington pulled one back when Sproule put in a good ball from a corner and FORBES headed past McLeod.

Roselea almost added a third when a knock on from Calum Watson put Scott Watson through on goal but his effort just went over the bar.

Roselea made a double substitution in 73 minutes with Morgan Smith & Liam Campbell replacing Craig Anderson & Michael Cruickshank.

Roselea made a final change with Mowatt replacing Calum Watson who had worked himself into the quagmire

Haddington had a few half chances after this but Roselea defended their lead well and in the 89th minute Greig put a good ball from a free-kick to the back post and SCOTT WATSON headed home again to put the game to bed.

FT Haddington Ath 1 Montrose Roselea 3

Sometimes in football teams go all out to get a game played and it backfires. In this case Haddington Ath had the carrot of taking top place in the League. With the pitch playable they took the decision to allow Roselea to travel and despite all other matches in the Lothians being postponed due to ground conditions as well as wind there were teams like Broxburn with an all weather surface who also postponed. Despite all that Roselea arrived and were met with a playable surface and winds which were far less volatile than expected which meant that the gamble paid off but only temporary. Why the fixture was set in the first place is puzzling to say the least making the second longest journey in East Junior football at this time of the season.

The unexpected win takes Roselea off second bottom place and propelled them into the heady heights of 11^th however many sides have games in hand over Roselea.

The well deserved victory should give Roselea heart now that they can start to build on todays result. The team have not been playing badly in most games but a lack of taking chances have frustrated and cost them. New striker Scott Watson looks a very welcome addition to the squad and will hopefully make a big impact on the second half of the season.

Roselea now face Jeanfield Swifts at home in their next fixture at Broomfield Park. The visitors are unbeaten in the League and it will be a similar challenge to the week before however the more confident Roselea squad will be up for it.