Petrie hails efforts despite defeat

Montrose boss Stewart Petrie chose his words carefully after watching his side play the entire second half against Airdrie with 10 men and end up unlucky to lose to a deflected strike.

The main talking point came on the stroke of half-time when Sean Dillon tangled with Calum Smith as they chased a throughball which ran through to the gloves of Allan Fleming.

On the advice of a linesman, the referee gave a penalty, then after further discussion sent off Dillon. Alistair Roy blazed the penalty over the bar.

Petrie said: “Our effort was excellent from start to finish. The sending-off was a gamechanging moment but that is football.

“The officials made their decision and there is nothing I can do about it.

“I thought Airdrie would be a threat from set-pieces as they are a big strong side. I didn’t think we would lose a goal to a long distance shot which took a deflection.

“We had chances, including a free-kick which hit the bar.

“The division is very tight and the breaks will even themselves out over the season. The game was a decent advert for the division. My lads gave their all and their fitness was fantastic.”

Despite their man advantage, Airdrie had to resort to running down the clock in the closing stages.

Petrie added: “They had a goal and it was up to us to chase the game. I made substitutions to try and get something and we even put big Kerr Waddle up front towards the end.

“We will dust ourselves down and go again. I will use my squad for the Tunnock’s Cup game against Forfar on Tuesday. We have the three full-time teams in the division, Airdrie, Falkirk and Raith, on the trot and we will need all our players.”

The deadlock was broken on 71 minutes when Smith fired home but Montrose roared back and two minutes later a Milne free-kick crashed off the bar.

Two minutes from time, Ballantyne was chopped down on a surging run, but rather than give a penalty, the referee gave a free-kick inches outside the box. Milne’s free-kick was tipped for a corner by Hutton.