Montrose 4 East Fife 1

James Keatings’ first goal for Montrose and a brace from substitute Craig Johnston, with a strike from Graham Webster in between, gave Montrose a convincing win over East Fife.

This was a real game of two halves, with neither side able to break the deadlock during the opening 45 minutes. East Fife’s Liam Watt was the first to go close, having a shot palmed wide of the post by Aaron Lennox after holding off Cammy Ballantyne’s challenge.

Kyle Connell also went close for the visitors, surging past Kerr Waddell and Sean Dillon but having his low shot well saved.

Montrose’s first clear-cut chance came in the 14th minute when Webster cut inside from the right flank before playing a low ball to Cammy F Ballantyne, but the on-loan St Johnstone midfielder could only shoot wide of the post.

Webster tried his luck again in the 25th minute, skinning Ryan Wallace on the right but having a low shot held by Jude Smith in the away goal, and three minutes later when his shot across goal was cleared for a corner by Chris Higgins.

The on-form winger almost turned creator in the 39th minute when he headed Terry Masson’s crossfield pass to Keatings on the edge of the six yard box, but he could only head over the bar. The on-loan Raith Rovers striker came close again moments later, but his overhead kick in the box was held by Smith.

Blair Lyons looked to have put Montrose ahead on the verge of half time when he turned his marker in the box, but his shot cracked off the inside of Smith’s post and bounced to safety.

The second half started with Montrose looking to capitalise on their possession, and it paid off just six minutes after the restart. JAMES KEATINGS collected Cammy F Ballantyne’s clipped pass on the edge of the box and fired a left foot shot past Smith to register his first goal for the Gable Endies.

The Dynamo had barely finished celebrating that first strike when Montrose added their second. Cammy Ballantyne collected the ball on the right wing and played a low pass to Cammy F Ballantyne’s feet. He laid the ball back for GRAHAM WEBSTER, who thumped his shot back across goal and into Smith’s net.

Galvanised by their two-goal cushion, Montrose settled into a period of quick passing football, Keatings coming close with a shot from the edge of the box and Lewis Milne fizzing a shot wide from 20 yards out.

East Fife struggled to create chances, but Liam Newton should have done better when he fired wide in the box in the 65th minute.

Craig Johnston, introduced as a substitute for Lyons, had only been on the pitch a minute when he surged past two East Fife defenders and blasted a shot across goal, only for the ball to roll out for a goal kick.

But CRAIG JOHNSTON found the net two minutes later, collecting Cammy Ballantyne’s pass in the box and scrambling the ball in at the near post.
JOHNSTON doubled his tally after another three minutes, dinking the ball into the net from Cammy F Ballantyne’s chipped pass.

East Fife registered a late consolation goal, SCOTT MERCER’s free kick deflected past Lennox in the 87th minute.

Match Report by Mark Rae

Team Lineups & Stats

cinch league 1

Saturday 23rd October 2021

21	Aaron Lennox	21	Jude Smith
2	Cammy Ballantyne	12	Scott Mercer
3	Andrew Steeves	3	Chris Higgins
14	Seán Dillon	17	Liam Newton (s67)
5	Kerr Waddell (s12)	19	Daniel Higgins
6	Terry Masson (c)  (s57)	18	Liam Newton (s67)
7	Graham Webster	6	Connor McManus
20	Cammy F Ballantyne	14	Liam Watt
9	James Keatings	8	Pat Slattery
10	Lewis Milne	9	Ryan Wallace
11	Blair Lyons (s72)	22	Kyle Connell
17	Aidan Quinn (s12)	11	Kieran Millar (s67)
8	Paul Watson	7	Danny Denholm
15	Mark Whatley (s57)	16	Jamie Semple
22	Craig Brown	15	Sean Brown
12	Chris Antoniazzi	20	Andrew Osei-Bonsu (s67)
16	Craig Johnston (s72)	10	Kevin Smith
21	Allan Fleming (GK)	1	Liam Campbell

Referee:
Graham Grainger

Assistant Referees:
Jonathan Bell, Paul McAvinue

Goalscorers:
Montrose - James Keatings (52), Graham Webster (55), Craig Johnston (76, 79)
East Fife - Scott Mercer (88)

Yellow Cards:
Montrose - Terry Masson (29), Mark Whatley (82)
East Fife - Liam Newton (36), Pat Slattery (49), Liam Watt (54)

Red Cards:
None

Attendance:
606