Montrose Roselea

NEILSTON VS MONTROSE ROSELEA OVD SCOTTISH JUNIOR CUP ROUND 3 04/12/2004 Roselea made the long trip to Glasgow on Saturday to face Neilston in the Scottish Junior Cup. Roselea had not progressed beyond the third round since 1999 and it would be a tough task to beat a team sitting in the top three of the Western Super League Division 1. Martin Christie was out with a hamstring injury, Eric Watson was away for the weekend and James McKellar was offshore. Longer term injury victims Hayden Smith, Paul Masson and Graham Walger were all out, however Chris Simpson travelled after taking part in a couple of friendlies. Chris has been out through injury for 2 years. The pitch was on a slight slope and was very heavy after some midweek rain. Roselea kicked off up the slope and against a swirling wind. Roselea changed from their familiar 4-4-2 formation to try and take advantage of Neilstons usual formation. John Wands lined up in goal behind a back four of Dean Milne, Chris Masson, Paul Ross & Paul Whyte, Matt Miller, David Craig & Kevin Crawford were the holding midfield three and Colin Page and Scott Findlater played just off of Duncan Croall. Lee Walker, Chris Simpson, Luke Myers, Kevin Smith and Ronnie Massie were on the bench. Roselea were as expected put under the cosh in the first 15 minutes and John Wands had to look lively to save from a Barry Lavety header during this spell. Roselea then switched back to their usual formation as Neilston had changed their formation from the previous week and started with a flat back four. Roselea had their first real effort in 20 minutes when Paul Whyte headed back to Chris Masson and his shot was well wide of the target. Roselea were under real pressure and it was almost a one-man defensive show from Paul Whyte with a series of blocks to hold Neilston at bay. In 25 minutes when it looked as if Roselea had weathered the storm, Neilston opened the scoring. Their number five evaded three challenges before spinning in the box and sending a low shot into the far corner, leaving Wands helpless. Roselea would have settled for 1-0 at half time and it was just on the stroke of the half that Neilston increased their lead. After a further spell of pressure the ball broke kindly to ex Scotland U21 star Barry Lavety and he managed to expertly chip the ball over Wands into the top corner. Roselea went in 2-0 down at the break and could have no grumbles about the scoreline. Half Time Neilston 2 Roselea 0 Roselea started the second half on a more positive nature and Scott Findlater started to get involved with a couple of strong runs. It was Neilston who threatened first and Lavety had a left footed volley well saved by John Wands. In 60 minutes Neilston made it 3-0. Colin Page lost possession in midfield after being crowded out and the ball broke to Barry Lavety. He split the Roselea defence with an excellent pass and the striker drew Wands and slid the ball past him. Roselea then had their best chance when a surging run from Findlater ended up with a tame left footed effort when he perhaps had time to advance further. Chris Masson then went close after flicking on a Colin page free kick. Roselea replaced Duncan Croall with Chris Simpson in 66 minutes. The big striker was making a welcome first appearance after 2 years on the sidelines with injury. Simpson almost made it dream comeback in 70 minutes when he bustled his way through and his left footed effort was deflected narrowly over for a corner. In 72 minutes Lee Walker replaced Dean Milne who was making his first appearance for 6 weeks. Luke Myers then replaced the tiring Kevin Crawford in 80 minutes. In 85 minutes the ever-willing Findlater snaked his way down the left and his cross was narrowly missed by Simpson and then Myers had his effort turned round for a corner. Final Neilston 3 Roselea 0 Summing up Roselea can have no grumbles about the scoreline and their performance the first 25 minutes apart was as good as could have been expected. They were beaten by a team who seemed to adapt to the conditions better. There were some great individual performances in the Roselea side with John Wands making several great saves, Paul Whyte making some brilliant tackles, David Craig & Matt Miller worked their socks off in midfield and it was great to see Chris Simpson making an impressive comeback on a tricky surface. The younger players who came on as substitutes will also savour their experience.