By Gary McKenzie
January 3 2006

Scottish Football League Division Three, Monday 2 January 2006, Links Park, Montrose. MONTROSE 0 ARBROATH 1 (Stein (64)). The Mo come right back down to earth with a disappointing defeat against 10 man Arbroath at Links Park.

Manager, Eddie Wolecki, made x changes to the starting line-up that beat East Fife on Ne'erday. Donachie came in for Dodds at right back, McKenzie replaced Stephen, Cargill made a rare appearance in place of Hall and Foxy replaced McLean upfront. Perhaps the thought of two games in three days made the manager wary of fatigue in his players.

Butter was the busier of the keepers in the early stages, tipping the ball over after only a minute. However, James Russell looked to be continuing where he left off on Saturday when he cut inside on 3 minutes and his shot was deflected wide by the keeper.

Butter was in action agan when he handled safely from Brazil's shot on 9 minutes.

McCulloch was lucky not to end up in the book with a bad foul on Donachie.

The game descended into a dour battle with neither side wanting to make any mistakes.

Henners picked up a knock and needed some treatment on the far side touchline. After the game restarted, the referee conferred with the linesman and booked the midfielder.

In 40 minutes, Arbroath's Brazil was booked for dissent and Foxy followed him seconds later for a soft looking challenge.

The Arbroath man was to stay on the pitch for only another three minutes as his challenge on McKenzie left the young defender in a heap and he saw a straight red. The Arbroath man was furious and the ref had to come over to the stewards to ask them to deal with some crowd trouble amongst the away support.

Montrose continued to struggle in the second half. Watson was booked after 51 minutes for a tug, then Butter flapped at a pass back and almost sliced the ball into his own net. He was relieved to see the ball go behind for a corner.

In 62 minutes Cook and McMullen were booked for the visitors in quick succession as the pressure mounted on 10 man Arbroath.

The Montrose defence were caught napping on 64 minutes as STEIN nipped in behind to chip the ball over Butter for the opener.

The Smokies kept pressing and Butter had to tip the ball over again in 66 minutes from a freekick just outside the box.

In 68 minutes, McKenzie was pushed in the box as a cross came over and Montrose had a penalty. Fotheringham stepped up and ballooned the ball well over the bar.

In 73 minutes, Arbroath sent on Davidson for Cook while Montrose replaced Fraser and Russell with Don and Hall, who wasted no time in getting booked for a foul.

Wolecki made his last throw of the die in 78 minutes when he replaced the ineffective Cargill with Dodds.

Doyle's defensive header then ended just wide of his own goal.

Roddy Black replaced Jackson for the visitors.

Rennie was next in the book after a foul on Euan Hall.

Reilly was the final substitute of the game, replacing King with a minute to go, however Arroath had won the game by then, and they deserve credit for the way they played a man down.

Montrose's Jekyll and Hyde season continues with a disappointing derby performance and result. It was a great opportunity to inflict some damage on the 10-man Smokies but we played far too mahy long balls up the middle for Watson and Foxy to try and get on the end of. And we are well aware by now that Foxy isn't a striker. He and Cargill were the poorest home performers, neither managing to stamp their authority on the game. Butter, on the other hand, was outstanding again, apart from the wee flap in the second half. The veteran keeper has had something of a resurgence in form in the past few games.

Teams

Montrose

Butter, Donachie, E Smith, Doyle, McKenzie, Cargill, Russell, Henslee, Watson, Fotheringham, Fraser

Subs: Hall, Dodds, Don, R Smith, Hankinson

Arbroath

Peat, McMullen, Jackson, Rennie, Bishop, McCulloch, Cook,Miller, King, Brazil, Stein

Subs: Black, Reilly, Davidson, McGlashan