Match Report

Montrose made it two wins out of two against an Annan side still in hunt of their first points.

  The hosts were quick out the blocks when Garry Wood immediately beat Black to go through on goal but Mitchell was alert to deflect to shot out for a corner. The corner was barely cleaner when another ball into the box landed with Woods again but the danger was cleared again. At the other end McStay played a clever through ball for Hopkirk but he couldn’t get past the out coming McKenzie. Annan continued to threaten with a corner played out to McStay who hit on the volley but it was too easy for McKenzie. Both sides were attacking in a very open first half and Wood continued to be a threat for the home side who found himself with an free shot inside the box but hit straight at Mitchell. Annan tried again with another corner, taken by Brannon with Todd winning the header but failing to hit the target. After a speculative effort by O’Neil from distance which sailed over the bar, Mitchell pulled off a fantastic save, clawing out Woods header from the corner with the home fans thinking they had gone ahead. The game was then lost in a decisive ten minutes. Harkins gave Montrose the lead in the 32nd minute after running across the Annan defence who stood off him he finished well into the bottom corner. Annan tried to hit straight back with Flynn who knocked the ball past the out coming keeper when he was clipped to win the free kick on the edge of the box. McKenzie appeared to deny a goal scoring chance but was only shown a yellow card which could’ve easily been red. Hopkirks cross was then cleared off the line before McNiff conceded a cheap free kick after being tricked by Harkins. The impressive O’Kane curled the free kick brilliantly into the top corner. Annan attacked early in the second half and Brannon took a solo run past the full back into the box before squaring the ball to Todd who’s shot was cleared off the line by Watson. Montrose could’ve added to their tally when O’Kane’s inviting free kick bounced over everybody and just brushed the outside of the post with Mitchell beaten. They had another great chance when the ball came to Johnstone at the near post but caught him by surprise as he used his chest instead of heading home. The 75th minute saw the return of Kenny Mackay and minutes later Brannon’s ball over the top very nearly put the striker through but the ball didn’t bounce kindly for him and it just summed up the Black and Golds day. Montrose hung on for the win and Annan are still hunting their first points of the campaign.

Montrose team- McKenzie, Masson, Graham, Watson, Cambell (Crawford 56 mins),O’Kane, Johnstone, O’Neil (Robb 77 mins), Wood, Harkins (Deasley 75 mins), Day.    Unused subs- McCafferty, Webster, Wilson

Goals scorers- Harkins 32, Watson 39

Annan Athletic team- Mitchell, Chisholm, McNiff, Black, Sloan (Mackay 75 mins), McStay (Caracry 57 mins), Logan, Flynn (Bradley 89 mins), Brannon, Todd, Hopkirk.   Subs not used- Wood, Caldwell, Brown, Murray

Attendance- 341