Written by John - OTR Wednesday, 25 November 1998 00:00

at the bottom of the division.

As you can imagine, the game was dire. Dumbarton were 1-0 down before I got in the ground but according to Sandy the goal came from a corner which any other keeper would have claimed.

That may be a bit unfair as Kenny had a very good game after that. If it wasn't for him making some great saves and the fact that some of Montrose's finishing was laughable we would have got a serious thrashing.There were at least three occasions in the first half when a Montrose player found himself totally unmarked in the penalty area, sometimes even in the six yard box, with the ball at his feet and a huge goal to aim at. Kenny saved two of them and one was inexplicably missed.

Dumbarton's best period was in the first half. Colin McKinnon and Paddy Flannery were moving and combining well. Both came close, and Paddy smacked a shot off the post after beating the offside trap and had a reasonable penalty claim turned down. Mooney had a good attempt from 25 yards but it flew just over.

The second half was awful. Three shots on goal, with one on target, by my count. Montrose's second goal came from a corner (no surprise there then) which resulted from an alleged save from Meechan. Kenny claimed he didn't touch it but the ref thought differently and awarded the corner. The ball was drilled in low and at speed. It seemed to pass through umpteen players legs before falling to a Montrose player who blasted it in. From then on you just knew we were doomed.

A bit later, Paddy Flannery took a knock after a collision with the Montrose goalie and hobbled about for about ten minutes before being subbed. A new face, Miller, I think, came on for him and looked sharp for the first ten minutes before he started to blend in with the rest of the team. Joe Robertson was subbed for Billy Melvin but that didn't helped much. The final whistle couldn't come fast enough.

Comedy Highlight

There certainly weren't many but we all laughed when the announcer mentioned the result of the 50-50 draw. Joe tacked on the end, "That'll be ten pounds you owe us."

Team Lineup: Meechan, Wilson, Wilkinson, Sharp, Jack, King, Grace, Mooney, McKinnon, Flannery, Robertson.Subs: Miller, Billy Melvin, Martin Melvin