Dumbarton 0-1 Montrose
Irn Bru Cup Round 2
The C&G Systems Stadium
Saturday 8th September 2018
International break weekend once again brings round the second round of the Challenge Cup. The Welsh, Northern Irish, Irish and newly invited fifth tier English sides enter at this stage, but unlike last year, Dumbarton avoided the foreigners and today play Montrose, coincidentally also next weekend’s league opponents.
The Ground
Having visited the C&G Systems Stadium just a matter of weeks ago, I’ve not really got any further details to go into today.
The Teams
Since I saw Dumbarton knock out an experimental Morton side out of this competition, their league form has taken a major turn for the worse. A 1-1 home draw with Arbroath has been the highlight of their recent fixtures, with away defeats to Brechin City and Stenhousemuir following. Former Portland Timbers, Houston Dynamo and Kilmarnock midfielder Brad Spencer has joined the club after impressing as a trialist, and the squad has also been boosted by the loan signings of Scott Allardice from Dundee United and Jack Aitchison from Celtic. Both of the youngsters are cup tied however, and will not play today.
Montrose, based at Links Park in the Angus town, were formed in 1879 and were first elected to the SFL in 1923. They have perennially been a lower league club, with their most successful period being in the mid 1970s-80s when they were a somewhat regular fixture in the second tier and reached the League Cup semi-finals in 1975-76. The club won their first league championship in the 1984-85 season when they won the third tier Second Division. The club have spent most of the past 30 years in the fourth tier, and actually finished bottom of the SPFL as recently as the 2014-15 season, where they maintained their league status with a 3-2 aggregate win over Highland League Champions Brora Rangers in the SPFL Relegation Play-off. The club’s fortunes were turned round last season, when they won only their second ever league title, pipping Peterhead to the League Two championship on the last day to win the league and gain promotion to League One.
Under the stewardship of former Dunfermline legend Stewart Petrie, who has been in charge since 2016, Montrose have started life in League One relatively well. After being thrashed on opening day by local rivals Arbroath, they picked up back to back wins over Airdrie and Brechin, but have lost their last two games away to Sranraer and at home to East Fife. They reached the second round of this competition with a penalty shoot out win over Highland League champions Cover Rangers after a 2-2 draw.
The Game
I usually take notes during games I’m at in order to facilitate a match report, but sometimes the notion just doesn’t take, and I instead simply watch the game and try to enjoy it. Today was one of those games, although it was definitely more frustrating than enjoyable.
It was a first half low on quality, with two struggling sides failing to do much with the ball. Some catastrophic defending from Dumbarton with sixteen minutes played allowed Craig Johnston a free header from Danny Cavanagh’s cross and Grant Adam in the Dumbarton goal was helpless to stop the visitors from going ahead. Neither side really carved out another clear cut opportunity, although Bobby Barr did his best to set up his strikers Calum Gallagher and Rory Loy.
Loy had a golden chance to equalise less than a minute into the second half, but his powder puff effort from Cammy Ballantyne’s through ball was as disappointing as it was inept. Ross Forbes did manage to come close for the Sons when a speculative shot on the turn from close to 30 yards out cannoned back off the post.
Dumbarton pushed for an equaliser in the last ten minutes, and only a superb last ditch tackle from Michael Bolochoweckyj prevented Iain Russell from tapping home. Andy Little hit the top of the bar with a header from the resulting corner, and then got himself in the book for a ridiculous dive in the box a couple of minutes later. Montrose then kept hold of the ball to see out the victory. I can’t help but think if Dumbarton had shown the same urgency throughout that they showed in the last ten minutes that the result could have been different.
The Pies
The steak pies were on point today, as was the pint I enjoyed in the bar pre-match since we had arrived early. The catering outshone the football today.
Admission: £10
Programme: £2.50
Pie: £1.90 – £2.60
Bovril: £2
Attendance: 456
Pies on the Terraces 