Gable Endies make hard work of victory

Montrose’s first preseason friendly ended with a 4-3 win over Highland League Formartine United.

The Gable Endies were a bit ring-rusty and found themselves two goals behind early in the game.

Stuart Smith sidefooted the ball home to give the visitors the lead and former Aberdeen midfielder Mark Gallagher struck the ball high to Montrose keeper Ross Matthews’ left from 40 yards to make it 2-0.

The home side, who will be targeting the playoffs again this season, pulled one back on 23 minutes when Craig Johnston turned the ball home from close range.

Johnston scored the equaliser two minutes later after a mix-up in the visitors’ defence.

Montrose then went ahead after 33 minutes when Lewis Milne was played in through the Formartine defence and he calmly stroked the ball home.

Formartine drew level at 3-3 when the ball eluded Graham Webster and Kieran Lawrence latched on to it to chip the ball over Matthews.

The second half saw a procession of substitutions by both sides as the two managers used the match to give the members of their squads some much needed game time.

The Gable Endies had the edge on pressure but Formartine still looked dangerous and with 51 minutes on the clock, Gallagher had the ball in the net for the visitors but the linesman flagged for offside.

Minutes later Julien Wade dispossessed veteran Montrose defender Sean Dillon on the left but his effort went over the bar.

The visitors had several chances to add to their tally but with seconds remaining a pass from substitute Blair Lyons allowed ex-Ross County midfielder Michael Gardyne to score the winner for Montrose.

Next up for the Gable Endies is a derby against Arbroath followed by a visit from Dundee United.