Match Report

Stenhousemuir 2[Rodgers 51,56] Montrose 0 at Ochilview Park, on 7.7.12

The first of the open door games this season was a friendly against Montrose as we did last season. This time however the fixture was at Ochilview. This gave the Warriors faithful their first opportunity to see new players Greg Ross, Scot Buist and Bryan Hodge for the first time. The only other signing at the time John Gemmell had picked up a knock on the Thursday night and was not risked for this game. Montrose had not signed any new players from the previous season and thus their squad was augmented by additions from the youth set up as well as trialists.                                                                                                                                                           

Stenhousemuir set the tempo from the start of the game and although the first half ended goalless it was the home side that had created all the chances and will have felt that they should have been leading by the interval. The closest that they had came though was through an Eric Paton’s free kick struck the underside of the bar before Andy Rodgers hit the rebound wide of the target.                                                                            At half time Stenhousemuir made three changes with three trialists coming on. Despite the changes in personnel it did not affect the way the game was been played with Stenhousemuir continuing to have the bulk of the play as the visitors struggled to make any impact on the game. Andy Rodgers eventually opened the scoring in the 51^st minute with a 25 yard strike that gave Sandy Wood no chance. Five minutes later he doubled the advantage with another fine strike clipping the ball into the top corner after a perfectly weighted pass by Stewart Kean. Just after the hour Rodgers was denied a hat trick when another effort beat the keeper but this time the woodwork came to Montrose’s rescue.                                                                                                                                                         

Montrose had a chance to get back into the game when Greg Ross lost possession but Dean Shaw was quick to react to deny Martin Boyle a chance by intercepting with his feet. Boyle, the Irn Bru Leagues top scorer last season then had a glancing header wide of the target but Shaw was not to be called upon again before the end, though at the other end Wood had to save from Stuart Love who had created an opening for himself. Nevertheless this was a decent workout though Stenhousemuir know that they will have much harder games to play.

Stenhousemuir  – Shaw, Ross, Lawson [Trialist h/t], Buist, McMillan, Hodge [Trialist h/t], Ferguson [Trialist h/t], Rodgers, Kean [Love 60], Paton and Dickson [Hamilton 60]. Sub not used – Brown

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Montrose – S.Wood, A.Campbell [McNally h/t], Browne [S.Campbell h/t], Lunan, Murdoch, Masson, Swanson [Johnston 57], Crawford, A.Wood [Boyle 57], G.Wood [Watson h/t] and Weir [Young 80]. Sub not used – Gorton

Referee – David Somers                      Assistants – Craig Young and Matthew Denne