Montrose Roselea

MONTROSE ROSELEA vs DUNDEE NORTH END DJ LAING LEAGUE CUP SECTION 4 30/10/2004 Roselea were at home to Dundee North End in the DJ Laing Cup Section 4. The Section is the tightest of the four sections with any one of four teams having a shout of qualification. North End would be viewed as favourites due to their games in hand so a win was a must for Roselea to boost their chances. The squad was on the same lines as the previous week with only James McKellar adding to the five players missing for various reasons. Roselea lined up in a 4-4-2 formation: Ross Mcleod, Matt Miller, Paul Whyte Paul Ross, Chris Masson, Martin Christie, Eric Watson, David Craig and Scott Findlater, Colin Page and Duncan Croall. The bench consisted of Kevin Crawford, Kevin Smith, Dean Milne, Lee Walker and John Wands. Strangely, for the second week running, Broomfield was unusually calm and the pitch was flat after being rolled the previous evening. Roselea obviously needing the win attacked from the start and Duncan Croall almost gave the home team the lead after rounding the keeper but a North End defender somehow managed to keep the ball out when a goal seemed inevitable. Eric Watson then had a header cleared off the line as the Lea continued to press. Roselea were then dealt a blow when North End took the lead in only 5 minutes. Some naïve defending from Miller allowed North End to break on the left and despite the combined efforts of Whyte and Mcleod, Robbie Holden stroked home at the second attempt. Roselea were playing some good football and had a long spell of pressure with Masson, Croall and Watson all going close. In 25 minutes Craig of Roselea and Wilkie of North End picked up bookings with Craig very unfortunate to find the book. In 29 minutes North End should have extended their lead after a slip by Masson. Blackwood found himself in on goal but pulled his shot past the post. North End fullback Stewart was then booked after 3 successive fouls with the first two meriting a card in their own right. Paul Ross also found yellow for his first challenge. The match took a big change of direction in 35 minutes. Stewart received a straight red card to add to his earlier yellow after a two-footed lunge on Masson. Eric Watson had to be substituted in 40 minutes when a clash off heads left him with a golf ball sized lump on his head. Substitute Crawford made an instant impact on the game when his 25 yard left footed shot was deflected into the net by Martin Christie for the equaliser right on half time. Half Time Roselea 1 Dundee North End 1 The second period started slowly with North End setting out their stall to frustrate Roselea and hit them on the break. Roselea lacked that bit of urgency to break down the defence. It wasn’t until the 65th minute that the first real chance came when a North End defender almost turned a Christie cross into his own net. Roselea were having all the pressure but again found the North End defence in no mood to back down and it was difficult to either get width or to keep possession with some direct play. Roselea went close in 80 minutes when a Findlater cross appeared to be handled and after strong penalty appeals the ball broke to Martin Christie and his first time volley almost went in. Roselea then found themselves behind after a freak goal gave North End the lead in 83 minutes. A long free kick from Craig Brown inside his own half caught Ross McLeod and Paul Ross in no mans land and the ball bounced over the keeper and bounced agonisingly into the empty net. Roselea bounced back almost immediately and Martin Christie won a penalty with less than 5 minutes remaining. He went on a surging run and was toppled just inside the box. Chris Masson stepped up to make no mistake from the spot to set up a grandstand finish. After a couple of goalmouth scrambles Roselea had a bigger appeal for a penalty when Scott Findlater was tripped in the box. Surprisingly the referee never took any action against Findlater, leaving some question marks about the decision. North End hung on for a valuable point and now look favourites to top the group. They deserve some credit for they way they defended after playing for 60 minutes with ten men. Roselea should not be disheartened as they played some good football and perhaps just needed a break in front of goal to swing the match in their favour. It is now inevitable that the Roselea’s grip on the league cup could be over with only a miracle required to qualify from the top spot. Roselea will look back to the early matches in the section games and curse the injury problems which were severe at that time. Final Roselea 2 North End 2 Other Results In DJ Laing Cup Broughty 2 Forfar West End 3 (Table in News Section) Remaining Fixtures: Broughty vs Roselea Broughty vs North End Forfar WE vs Coupar Angus North End vs Kirrie Coupar Angus vs North End