Gable Endies undone by defensive slackness

STRANRAER 2 MONTROSE 0

Stewart Petrie was left to count the cost of defensive slackness from set pieces as Stranraer picked up their first win of the season.

Montrose improved as the game wore on but David Brownlie and Grant Anderson’s early strikes were to prove decisive.

The Montrose boss said: “We threw everything at them in the second half.

“Their goalkeeper had a couple of super saves and we maybe could have got caught on the counter and left ourselves open at the back.

“We will just have to dust ourselves down and learn how to defend set pieces because it was not good enough.”

The sluggish start saw the hosts open the scoring on 12 minutes when Montrose failed to deal with a Connor Mcmanus corner.

Adam Cummins headed towards goal before Cameron Elliott chested down for Brownlie to score his first for the club.

Five minutes later and it was 2-0, with Montrose again failing to clear Mcmanus’s corner and Anderson firing home an acrobatic volley.

Luke Donnelly hit the post for Stranraer early in the second half before Montrose turned up the heat.

Paddy Cregg was the first to be denied by Max Currie, who then pulled off a stunning reaction save to keep out Andrew Steeves’ well-hit volley.

The goalkeeper proved the difference once again moments later when he tipped Sean Dillon’s goalbound header on to the crossbar.

Despite the defeat, Petrie was pleased with how his side is adapting to League One.

He said: “Anything you take from Stranraer is a bonus.

“It has been like that since I played, never mind managed.

“I’m not coming down on the bus expecting us to blow teams away, that is for sure, especially a Stranraer team that work hard for Stevie.

“If you can come away from here with something, it is a bonus, but, unfortunately, if you go two goals down that early in the game it is difficult.”

Paddy Cregg, left, and Sean Dillon: both denied by the Stranraer keeper.