Holders don’t fit the bill
Jim McIntyre admits Ross County have a long way to go to reach last season’s level after the holders had to rely on a late penalty to start their Cup defence with a win.
Brian Graham broke the deadlock from the spot five minutes from times after Greg Pascazio tripped County’s Michael Gardyne.
And McIntyre says his Premiership side are a long way from being match-fit.
He said: “We were rusty but Montrose played well and created a couple of good chances. We had Scott Fox to thank for some good saves.
“We got there in the end although it was not a pretty performance. We have a long
way to go to get to the level we set ourselves last season.
“We will get sharper and our decision-making will get better.
“Because of the new format of the Cup, we cannot take five or six friendlies as usual as that would mean 10 games in July with the associated risk of injury.”
Martin Woods was inches wide with an acrobatic effort early on before setting up County team- mate Alex Schalk for a shot saved by Jordan Millar.
Fox pulled off a double stop to keep out a Chris Templeman header and Gary Fraser’s follow- up, while Gardyne hit the post with a snap shot at the other end.
Chris Robertson’s headed effort was chalked off on the hour for offside but Graham settled it from the spot.
Montrose assistant boss John Holt said: “We matched County all the way and if we had scored f irst things might have been different.”