Montrose belied their lowly league position when they came out on top in a dour encounter at Stair Park. Stranraer started quite brightly and in the opening exchanges created a few decent chances as they looked to impose themselves on the game. Noble had the first chance when he shot straight at McNeil from Nicoll’s cross, then McColm had a better chance but shot tamely at the goalkeeper after making himself some space with a good turn in the penalty area. Tomana created a chance for Tosh as the visitors ventured up the field and Glen Mitchell was forced to intervene at the expense of a corner that came to nothing. Stranraer created their own first corner moments later and Agnew’s second attempt at the corner was headed over by Oné. When Tweed fouled Oné shortly after, Agnew delivered a cross that was headed over again, this time by Henderson. Tomana was the danger man again for Montrose when he cut in from the right and fed Tosh but the striker didn’t get a clean contact and Mitchell saved easily and they repeated the move minutes later and created an even better chance. This time Milligan was the creator this time for Davidson who failed to trouble Mitchell by shooting straight at the Blues keeper and Milligan created another chance minutes later but Hegarty shot wide from the D. On 12 minutes McNeil produced a great save to deny Stranraer in the best chance so far. McColm was put through by Oné, beat Tweed and shot at goal but the visiting keeper did enough to get the ball away for a corner and minutes later McColm almost put Danny Mitchell through but Crighton was alert to sweep up the danger. With 20 minutes gone, the home side would be denied yet again, this time by the frame of the goal. Agnew and Oné combined to set up McColm who curled a left foot shot round McNeil from the edge of the box only to see it rebound back of his right hand post to safety. Agnew was denied from distance and then Tweed produced a superb tackle in the six-yard box to deny Oné as the Blues continued to enjoy the better of the exchanges in the opening half hour. Two minutes later and Paul Tosh broke the deadlock for Montrose with a fantastic right foot curling drive from 20 yards that Mitchell could only watch and admire. Once again Milligan had done the damage on the right hand side and squared to veteran striker who showed his class and made no mistake. Stranraer made a good response when Glen Mitchell delivered a cross that was headed clear to Danny Mitchell. The Blues skipper turned and shot but keeper McNeil clawed the net bound effort away for a corner as the half drew to a disappointing close for the home side despite the early promise.

Stranraer created the first chance of the second period when Sharp crossed for Agnew but the midfielder shot well over the visitors’ crossbar but Montrose countered straight away and a last ditch block by Noble prevented Milligan hitting the target after Tomana had created the opportunity. With the Blues struggling to impose themselves on the game, Moore was introduced on 54 minutes in a tactical change as the Blues tried to increase the pressure on the Montrose goal and the substitute had an effort on goal straight away but wasn’t able to direct it away from the goalkeeper. Just after the hour Tosh and McNally combined to fashion an opening but Danny Mitchell made a timely intervention at the expense of a corner. From the resulting flag kick came the games moment of controversy. Hegarty crossed and as Mitchell appeared to gather the ball with both hands, the ball was knocked away from him towards Steven Tweed and the player manager volleyed home into the roof of the net to double their advantage despite the best efforts of Moore on the goal line. McColm hit the post again five minutes later as it became clear that this wasn’t going to be Stranraer’s day. He drove past McNally after a neat lay off by Oné and struck the woodwork again with McNeil beaten. Stranraer continued to huff and puff but struggled to put the Montrose defence and keeper under much pressure and the visitor’s defence restricted then to long-range efforts which Moore, Agnew and McColm couldn’t convert. McManus, who had looked lively after coming on did create the best chance for himself with four minutes left when he turned inside the 6 yard box and smashed a right foot shot at goal only to see McNeil pull off a tremendous point blank save to deny him. Indeed Tosh nearly added salt to the wounds when he beat Agostini to the ball and struck a fierce shot from 25 yards that crashed back off the crossbar with Mitchell well beaten although a third goal would have been harsh on the home side. The game had turned on a moment of real quality from Paul Tosh which gave Montrose a second victory of the season against a Stranraer side that despite starting reasonably brightly, didn’t do enough to satisfy the management team with a performance that fell short of recent standards. Perhaps the lack of matches in recent weeks has left the players a bit ring rusty and the chance to make amends comes round straight away with the re-arranged trip to Elgin on Tuesday night.

Stranraer: David Mitchell, Glen Mitchell (Michael Moore 54), Lee Sharp, Romuald Bouadji, Murray Henderson (Damiano Agostini 69), Scott Agnew, Armand Oné, Danny Mitchell, Stuart McColm (Scott McManus 77), Kevin Nicoll, Steven Noble. Subs not used: Ray Montgomerie, Robbie MacKillop.

Booked: None

Montrose: Andy McNeil, Stephen McNally, Alan Campbell, Sean Crighton, Steven Tweed, Chris Hegarty, Fraser Milligan, Hugh Davidson, Paul Tosh, Marek Tomana (Jack Presly 84), Aaron Sinclair. Subs not used: Andrew Anderson, Ryan Arbuckle, Steven Coutts.

Goals: Tosh 32, Tweed 66.

Booked: Sinclair, Hegarty, McNally.

Attendance: 225            Referee: Thomas Robertson

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