Alloa Athletic 2 Montrose 2

Montrose made several enforced changes to their starting eleven for this tough looking game against the in form Alloa.

Referee was Lloyd Wilson who got it going on a mild sunny day at the Indodrill Stadium in front of a crowd containing a good number of Mo fans.

The game itself started fairly quietly with both sides seemingly determined to give nothing away early on. Alloa had the bulk of early possession without creating any danger before Montrose got more into it after Terry Masson incurred the wrath of the referee and was yellow carded after only 11 minutes.

Cammy B and Steeves were both given space to overlap as the Mo used the flanks to open up big defence of the Wasps for whom Mendy was outstanding all afternoon. Alloa also used the wide areas but looked more effective through the centre and from set pieces from which Boyd put in several good crosses.

Neither side were dominant in a very tight first half with both sides having a couple of corners none of which created problems for either keeper. The nearest Montrose came was on 39 minutes when Terry Masson latched on to a right wing cross only to see his effort end the wrong side of the post. Masson in fact was playing in a more advanced role in this game and certainly making his presence felt. Still 0-0 at half-time and about right with neither side dominant.

No changes to start the second half but Alloa came out flying and clearly Manager Barry Ferguson had something to say in his half-time talk. The first goal came on 53 minutes when Boyd flighted a corner kick perfectly for MARK DURNAN to head the ball firmly to put Alloa ahead 1-0

It was the signal for Montrose to up the tempo to match that of the home side now and Cammy F was yellow carded for trying too hard to do that. Manager Stewart Petrie wanted change and brought on Johnston for Antoniazzi and Lyons for Brown both in the 59th minute. Those injections of pace immediately changed the tempo of the game but unfortunately Alloa got a second goal on 64 minutes which was a carbon copy of the first goal with MARK DURNAN getting it again although Taggart appeared to get a touch on it as well. So a mountain to climb for the Mo now 2-0 down but still 25 minutes to go.

Paul Watson came on for Whatley on 68 minutes to add his own dimension on the game and got yellow carded in the process but all of a sudden the initiative was with Montrose who simply became determined to get something from this game. Mendy at the heart of the Wasps defence was immense however and surely was Alloa’s man of the match but even he couldn’t stop the Montrose momentum now underway.

On 77 minutes Paul Watson latched on to an attempted Alloa clearance from 25 yards out and hit a beauty which bulleted into the net but it appeared to be CRAIG JOHNSTON who got the final touch as he was credited with the goal.

Anyway 2-1 now with still time to create more havoc around the previously immovable Mendy in the Alloa defence. The Mo had to take care at the other end too with Henderson and Boyd looking lively but it was Blair Lyons who headed just wide under pressure as the minutes ticked by.

Alloa replaced Boyd with Howie and with stoppage time looming big Conor Sammon replaced Henderson up front. Still Montrose hammered away down both sides and through the middle and three corners were conceded by Alloa.

It was from the third one that the Mo finally equalised on 91 minutes when MATTY ALLAN found the ball at his feet close in and hooked it in to the relief and joy of the Mo fans including the indefatigable Hamish behind the net.

Still 4 more minutes of stoppage time to go during which Alloa wasted a corner and Montrose made the point safe with the final score of 2-2 about right on the day.

No stand out Man of the Match for the Mo but the substitutions made a big difference to the final outcome. On to Falkirk next week with them now locked on the same points total as Montrose and all to play for yet again.

Report by Steve Doyle

Team Lineups & Stats

cinch League 1

Saturday 13th November 2021

31	David Hutton	21	Aaron Lennox
23	Fernandy Mendy	2	Cammy Ballantyne
6	Mark Durnan	3	Andrew Steeves
2	Scott Taggart	4	Matty Allan
8	Jon Robertson (c)	17	Aidan Quinn
15	Charlie Gilmour	6	Terry Masson (c)
7	Kevin Cawley	7	Graham Webster
19	Mouhamed Niang	20	Cammy F Ballantyne
12	Stefan Scougall	22	Craig Brown (s59)
11	Steven Boyd (s80)	12	Chris Antoniazzi (s59)
22	Euan Henderson (s88)	15	Mark Whatley (s68)
3	Daniel Church	11	Blair Lyons (s59)
4	Craig Howie (s80)	8	Paul Watson (s68)
16	Adam King	9	James Keatings
18	Conor Sammon (s88)	16	Craig Johnston (s59)
10	Alan Trouten	1	Allan Fleming
20	Cameron O'Donnell
21	Keir Burt

Referee:
Lloyd Wilson

Assistant Referees:
Sean Carr, Chris Rae

Goalscorers:
Alloa Athletic - Mark Durnan (53, 64)
Montrose - Craig Johnston (77), Matty Allan (90+1)

Yellow Cards:
Montrose - Terry Masson (11), Cammy F Ballantyne (54) 

Red Cards:
None

Attendance:
742