Montrose 1 Alloa Athletic 1

MONTROSE and Alloa shared the points on a cold January afternoon at Links Park.

The home side, looking to maintain their promotion push in the new year, gave a debut to new signing Michael Gardyne, while Eli Simpson made his first home appearance.

Alloa were the first side to create a clear cut chance, Steven Boyd curling a left foot shot at goal that Allan Fleming held easily.

Barry Ferguson’s side came close again in the 13th minute when Connor Sammon was sent clear through on Fleming, but his sidefooted shot rolled across the face of goal and out for a goal kick.

Montrose’s first genuine chance of note came in the 20th minute when Blair Lyons, who scored the winning goal against East Fife the previous week, had a low shot from 20 yards out well saved by David Hutton.

From the corner that followed, Andrew Steeves was denied a spectacular goal when his overhead kick at the far post was headed off the line by Andy Graham.

The second corner fell to Sean Dillon in the box, the centre back lashing a shot at goal that Hutton parried off the line, Matty Allan following up with a header that the goalkeeper also managed to deal with.

Simpson shot at Hutton in the 29th minute, while at the other end, Boyd fired over the bar from 25 yards out, and Kevin Cawley had a half volley from just outside the box tipped over by Fleming.

With half time approaching, Alloa took the lead through STEVEN BOYD, the forward connecting with Jon Robertson’s low ball into the box from wide on the right.

Montrose introduced Liam Callaghan as a half time substitute for Paul Watson, and the midfielder made an almost instant impact. The home side won a free kick two yards outside the Alloa box, and LIAM CALLAGHAN stepped up to curl a left foot shot into the top corner of Hutton’s net.

The home side pressed forward as they looked for a winner, Gardyne trying his luck with a shot from the left hand corner of the box, but the ball flew over the crossbar.

Callaghan came close with a shot in the 68th minute, but the ball curled over the crossbar.

Alloa created the last real chance of the match, Kevin Cawley firing over from the edge of the box.

Report by Mark Rae

Team Lineups & Stats

cinch league 1

Saturday 8th January 2022

1	Allan Fleming	31	David Hutton
2	Cammy Ballantyne	8	John Robertson
3	Andrew Steeves	5	Andy Graham
4	Matty Allan	6	Mark Durnan
14	Seán Dillon	3	Daniel Church
8	Paul Watson (s45)	16	Adam King
20	Cammy F Ballantyne	19	Mouhamed Niang
6	Terry Masson	11	Steven Boyd
24	Michael Gardyne (s77)	7	Kevin Cawley
18	Elijah Simpson (s63)	22	Euan Henderson
11	Blair Lyons	18	Conor Sammon (s87)
17	Aidan Quinn	20	Cameron O'Donnell (s87)
19	Liam Callaghan (s45)	10	Alan Trouten
15	Ross Campbell	17	Jordan Armstrong
16	Craig Johnston (s63)	9	Ben Armour
12	Chris Antoniazzi	21	Keir Burt
9	James Keatings (s77)
21	Ross Matthews

Referee:
Gavin Duncan

Assistant Referees:
Ralph Gordon, Brian Christie

Goalscorers:
Montrose - Liam Callaghan (51)
Alloa Athletic - Steven Boyd (44)

Yellow Cards:
Alloa Athletic - Mark Durnan (51), Euan Henderson (73)

Red Cards:
None

Attendance:
463