Montrose vs Dumbarton

[PortyMo]

Think we just about shaded it.
Dumbarton never looked like scoring, could have played all night and not bothered us.
We had a couple of chances and took one of them - a very good one at that.
Dillon and Matty Allen mopped everything thrown at them.
Relief to be off the bottom of the table

[Ivo den Bieman]

Delighted with that today. Good to come out on top in a game that whilst absorbing, was never a classic.

Montrose's work rate and effort was first class throughout and we moved the ball about pretty well on the whole. We needed to, as Dumbarton had packed the midfield and the game seemed very narrow- there was no space whatsoever, at all.

Chances were few and far between in the first half. Hesitancy at the back saw Jordan Allan make a terrific, strong block at his near post after a Dumbarton attacker arrowed into the box. At the other end there were a few last ditch tackles which frustratingly cut out killer passes at just the last moment. Steeves was very busy down his flank but the results variable. The closest we came was a Rennie overhead kick which drifted wide (he seemed to hurt himself in the process); Antoniazzi had to be helped off after being knocked out by the ball blasted straight against his head.

The goal, in the second half, was very well worked. The tireless Steeves burst down the left, clashing with Dumbarton's no.20 but holding off his repeated attempts to barge him off the ball. Just at the touchline he got clear and fired over a deep cross which was met by the onrushing Webster at the far post. Smith got half an arm to the rising shot but the momentum carried it into the right corner of the net.

Webster had a terrific cameo after coming on for Antoniazzi and was a pain for the Dumbarton defence. CJ put in a good shift and our back four were steady and calm. Dumbarton moved the ball quite nicely but had no cutting edge at all.

Overall, great to enjoy a hard-fought win and this result on the back of last week's dismantling of Brechin gives us a nice little bit of momentum as we head into next weekend's derby, with the intention of putting a spoke in Uncle Fester's fantasy back-to-back-titles wheel. (copyright the S*n and the Courier). Hope Antoniazzi and Rennie are fit to resume.

[notsofedupendie]

That was much more like it from Montrose. Last seasons success was largely built on a defence as tight as a ducks arse and today was the first time this season we’ve delivered it. Matty and Dillo were the best players on the park. Jordan commanded his box and made a crucial save at 0-0. Webby’s goal was very well taken .. and Steeves’s run and cross brilliant. Hopefully, onwards and upwards and bust the Smokies unbeaten run next week. One question for the Dumbarton supporters. What have you done to Cammy? At his best he’s too good for this league but today he looked well off it. Have him back in a heartbeat though.

[David W]

Not enough "Duff Jimmy" in this thread. Disappointed in the Montrose fans.

[Montrose moaner]

Have to agree with the above the defence dealt with the pace and never looked troubled. Thought Gregg was outstanding today

[jd_mo]

That was much more like it from Montrose. Last seasons success was largely built on a defence as tight as a ducks arse and today was the first time this season we’ve delivered it. Matty and Dillo were the best players on the park. Jordan commanded his box and made a crucial save at 0-0. Webby’s goal was very well taken .. and Steeves’s run and cross brilliant. Hopefully, onwards and upwards and bust the Smokies unbeaten run next week. One question for the Dumbarton supporters. What have you done to Cammy? At his best he’s too good for this league but today he looked well off it. Have him back in a heartbeat though.

Yes, far more settled looking at the back today. There's been a lot of chopping and changing of personnel and formation this season but looked more assured today.

Suspect Antoniazzi may miss a week after that ball in the chops, so yet more changes will come. Good to see Henderson get a run out too, and Webby surely due a start after today's positive performance.

Two wins on the bounce will breed confidence, but next week will be an entirely different test altogether.

[squeezeboxson]

1 hour ago, notsofedupendie said:

That was much more like it from Montrose. Last seasons success was largely built on a defence as tight as a ducks arse and today was the first time this season we’ve delivered it. Matty and Dillo were the best players on the park. Jordan commanded his box and made a crucial save at 0-0. Webby’s goal was very well taken .. and Steeves’s run and cross brilliant. Hopefully, onwards and upwards and bust the Smokies unbeaten run next week. One question for the Dumbarton supporters. What have you done to Cammy? At his best he’s too good for this league but today he looked well off it. Have him back in a heartbeat though.

I missed the game today but I assume he wasn't at his best. He has easily been one of our best players and the main issue is that he has missed 75% of the season through injury.  Most critically he missed basically all of pre-season so isn't quite up to pace. Even at that, as I already mentioned, he has been one of our best most weeks.

[Silverton End]

Rock bottom

Reality check today after last week's heroics. Duffy was right not to change a winning team from last week, for today.

Inconsistency is key at the moment though.

[1320Lichtie]

Delighted with that today. Good to come out on top in a game that whilst absorbing, was never a classic.
Montrose's work rate and effort was first class throughout and we moved the ball about pretty well on the whole. We needed to, as Dumbarton had packed the midfield and the game seemed very narrow- there was no space whatsoever, at all.
Chances were few and far between in the first half. Hesitancy at the back saw Jordan Allan make a terrific, strong block at his near post after a Dumbarton attacker arrowed into the box. At the other end there were a few last ditch tackles which frustratingly cut out killer passes at just the last moment. Steeves was very busy down his flank but the results variable. The closest we came was a Rennie overhead kick which drifted wide (he seemed to hurt himself in the process); Antoniazzi had to be helped off after being knocked out by the ball blasted straight against his head.
The goal, in the second half, was very well worked. The tireless Steeves burst down the left, clashing with Dumbarton's no.20 but holding off his repeated attempts to barge him off the ball. Just at the touchline he got clear and fired over a deep cross which was met by the onrushing Webster at the far post. Smith got half an arm to the rising shot but the momentum carried it into the right corner of the net.
Webster had a terrific cameo after coming on for Antoniazzi and was a pain for the Dumbarton defence. CJ put in a good shift and our back four were steady and calm. Dumbarton moved the ball quite nicely but had no cutting edge at all.
Overall, great to enjoy a hard-fought win and this result on the back of last week's dismantling of Brechin gives us a nice little bit of momentum as we head into next weekend's derby, with the intention of putting a spoke in Uncle Fester's fantasy back-to-back-titles wheel. (copyright the S*n and the Courier). Hope Antoniazzi and Rennie are fit to resume.

Dc post match interview said the reporter misquoted him and called the reporter weird for writing what he wrote. Said he was happy with the gap that's opened up and said we've only just gone into the second quarter it would be silly to talk about that

[mo83]

Good solid performance yesterday from Montrose in a game which they deserved all 3 points.I was expecting a bit more from Dumbarton if I'm honest some good individual player's in that team just not happening for them at the moment.
Absolutely delighted for Matty Alan comes back after his injury and is an absolute rock at the back along side Dillion.As ever Andrew steeves gave his all and the young right back from Aberdeen seems to be coming into his game now.No faults from anyone at all yesterday all played their part.Having said that I would still like to see another striker come in January, cj and Martin Rennie have been good but we still need more firepower up their.

[tongue_tied_danny]

I couldn't make the game yesterday but I'm pleased to hear Matty Allan is playing well. 

He didn't get as much praise as Dillon or Cammy last season but he always looked solid at the back and played a huge part in winning the title.

[Jan Vojáček]

Looking back on yesterday, it's still difficult to add to what I said heading back. Montrose came with a gameplan, executed it perfectly and only once put a foot wrong defensively - with Jordan Millar making a good save from Beany (though he has to score that imo).

If we took the lead it would've been a different game, but for all the possession we had in good areas, we just couldn't find a way through a superbly organised Mo defence. Thomas had at least two guys on him every time he touched the ball, he still created most of our chances, but found the going a lot tougher than last week. Bobby Barr was pretty quiet, Beany and the SeaGal worked hard but absolutely nothing came off for them.

Duffy will have learnt two things from yesterday. Firstly that we're still very, very low on confidence. From kick off we knocked it about well and attacked, but the longer things went on the scrappier we got. As soon as we went behind suddenly players started punting it in all directions and it always looked unlikely that we'd take anything.

Secondly, but more positively, I think he'll now know how our defence work. Again Dowie and Perry were pretty secure, and Montrose created very little of their own. Until Mango's back we need those two guys to keep things simple. If they do that then it cuts out the silly mistakes that were costing us at least two goals a game under Aitken. Credit to Duffy for that. *Distant sound of straws being clutched* if we keep up a record of conceding one in every two games then we'll be fine.

Next week is massive. In fact every game is massive if we don't find a way out of this mess. I'd like to see Brad Spencer brought back into midfield. We really missed his energy, and the gap between central-midfield and centre-back/centre-forward seemed to grow as the game went on. I take it Hutton still needs his op? He looked absolutely gubbed after 60 minutes yesterday and between that and Carsy being hooked we barely won a header/second ball in the middle of the park.

Looks like, until January at least, getting the first goal will be crucial for us. If we score it then we'll start to play with a bit of belief. If we concede it then we might as well just head home and beat the traffic.

[TheBigGuy]

Pleased for matty Allen deffo an underrated player

[Bring Back Paddy Flannery]

A massively disappointing result and one that should do the job of reminding everyone about how tough a job Duffy has on his hands here. I must admit, I'm not at all confident with our striking options right now and I'd be looking to get Gallagher up there pronto. Russell puts a shift in but he's seriously struggling for goals. If I was Sir Jim I think I'd be showing Rory Loy the door in January as well tbh, he's contributed nothing so far.

Quite surprised Sir Jim chose to stick Allardice in midfield before Spencer, who done really well when he came on last week. I can only assume he was hoping for a goal from a set piece due to us not looking very threatening.

[sonsism]

First hour we looked fairly decent but struggled to create many clear chances.  Montrose were extremely organised (like they were for 1 and 1/2 games at The Rock earlier this season).  After that it was pretty brutal.  Some finish from the Montrose player.  The Allardice sub was a bit mental but Jim will still be learning about his team so not going to be overly critical about that in his 2nd game.  Definitely would have preferred Spencer as he is great at driving the ball forward through the center of the park.

We're bottom of the league but when I was looking at the scores at half time we could have ended up 5th/6th if we got the win .   The league is very tight.  That said we're where we deserve to be and it's up to Duffy and the team to make that right.  Starting with Stenny next week hopefully.

[Jan Vojáček]

Highlights are up. I don't think I've ever seen finishing as tame as ours, every time we got into a decent position we just rolled the ball directly at Jordan Millar. Montrose's goal is a good strike, but Thomas doesn't do a great deal to stop the cross and Webster is completely free at the far post. We moved him out wide and pushed the SeaGal up top in the second-half, but I much prefer him having a free role in behind the striker. The ability to float about rather than just facing the same defenders all the time really suited him.

Jim's not daft though. He's still learning about the squad, so I'd imagine he'll be back up top next week.

 

[FifeSons]

Pretty good crowd for Montrose yesterday, 549. Were the locals drawn out by the box office visit of The Sons? 

ETA: Looking at the fixtures, that seems to be the smallest crowd they've had this season  Pretty good going. Obviously boosted by the Angus derbies, but still quite impressive.

[VillaKnollBoy]

Pretty good crowd for Montrose yesterday, 549. Were the locals drawn out by the box office visit of The Sons? [emoji14]

Quite possibly, great seeing all those deluded ex-SPL players plying their trade with you lads, playing at our small town club. [emoji6]

[FifeSons]

6 minutes ago, VillaKnollBoy said:

Quite possibly, great seeing all those deluded ex-SPL players plying their trade with you lads, playing at our small town club.

 @Ross Forbes will know how many have played in the SPL... I make it Smith, Carswell, Forbes, Dowie and Thomas? Although technically not the SPL for Thomas.

I've still never quite recovered from Andy Rodgers signing for you lot, I took of lot of stick at school for that.

[VillaKnollBoy]

[emoji38] I don't think that many of yesterday's lineup have ever played SPL football tbh...
I've still never quite recovered from Andy Rodgers signing for you lot, I took of lot of stick at school for that.

Hutton, Perry and Forbes would have I assume?