Petrie looks for big things from key Links Park duo

MONTROSE: Gable Endies boss praises veteran striker and young defender

They are two players at opposite ends of the footballing age spectrum but Montrose boss Stewart Petrie is hoping the duo will have a similar big impact next season.

The Links Park manager has ensured that the nucleus of his squad is already in place for the next campaign with a Monday night signing spree taking his roster up to 16.

Last season’s joint top scorer, 37-yearold Chris Templeman, was one of those agreeing a new deal along with 21-yearold defender Matty Allan who was released by Dundee recently after an impressive spell on loan with the Gable Endies.

And Petrie could not disguise his delight at tying up both.

The manager said: “Like a good bottle of red wine, Chris just gets better with age. There were other clubs chasing him so for us to secure him again is just fantastic.

“He is really important to the way we want to play and we will have to manage him well – the younger lads can do his running for him!

“He is vital for us and if we hadn’t signed him, we would probably have been scratching around all summer trying to find a replacement which would have been difficult to say the least.”

Petrie added: “Matty was very much the catalyst for us when we went on that good run in the last quarter of the season.

“We managed to keep five clean sheets out of six during that time and while the whole team deserves credit, Matty was key in that.

“He has matured beyond his years and we are delighted he has signed for a year with us. He maybe has to take a step backward, so to speak, to move forward once again in his career.

“As well as defending, he also passes the ball well and that’s important to the way we want to play.”

Montrose will be training at McDiarmid Park next season and Petrie is also looking to add a sports scientist to his backroom team with the manager determined to leave no stone unturned for what he insists will be an incredibly difficult League 2.

He added: “It is already looking like it will be a tough division again.

“Stenhousemuir and Peterhead have come down while the likes of Edinburgh City will improve and Dave Mackay is doing a great job at Stirling Albion.

“So like everyone else, we will be looking to make a good start and then push on.”

Chris Templeman and Matty Allan are again expected to play prominent roles for Montrose next season.