The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Angus rivals primed for long-awaited derby day
Montrose and Brechin to go head to head for the first time in more than 16 years at Links Park today
The last time Montrose met Brechin in a league fixture it was away back on March 9 2002, with City winning 2-0 at the Glebe.
Now 16 years on, Gable Endies boss Stewart Petrie is determined there will be a reversal of fortunes in this afternoon’s Angus derby at Links Park.
Montrose bounced back strongly from their opening-day defeat to Arbroath with a win on the road at Airdrie last Saturday followed by another victory on penalties up at Cove Rangers in the Irn-Bru Cup in midweek.
Petrie is now looking for his side to secure three points again and those long-awaited bragging rights for the club’s fans with a win over Darren Dods’ team.
The Montrose manager said: “I was delighted we got that first league win at Airdrie last week.
“The boys bounced back strongly from the Arbroath defeat and produced a high level of performance.
“As a new team in the league, it was important we did not get into a run of two or three defeats so the result at Airdrie will do wonders for confidence.”
He added: “We then made 10 changes for the Irn-Bru Cup tie on Wednesday night.
“We have a relatively healthy squad at the moment, with only Michael Bolochoweckyj out injured, so it was good that everybody got a run-out against Cove.
“I was also delighted with the performance and to get through albeit on penalties. Overall it was very beneficial and we now have another derby in the league to look forward to.
“It has been a few years since the clubs met in the league which will add further spice.
“Dodsy did a remarkable job getting Brechin into the Championship last year and they will have received a boost with their win over East Fife last week.
“We know the game will be tough but we are determined to win at home and hopefully there will be no back-to-back victories for them this weekend.”
Meanwhile, Brechin boss Dods is looking for his side to build on their first league win since April 29 2017 when they face Montrose today.
That long, long wait finally came to an end last week with the victory over East Fife at the Glebe courtesy of a Jordan Sinclair goal.
City then travelled up to Peterhead on Tuesday night in the Irn-Bru Cup with the team so ravaged by injury and suspension that 43-year-old Dods had to come out of retirement to register himself as a player.
Brechin narrowly lost 2-1 but now though there is a far healthier picture squad-wise and the manager is looking to make it two league wins in a row at Links Park.
Dods said: “Ryan McGeever was kicked on the same ankle that had been injured against East Fife and wasn’t fit to play at Peterhead.
“We also had Dougie Hill, Callum Tapping and Jordan Tapping suspended and you aren’t allowed to play trialists in the Irn-Bru Cup.
“We looked at bringing someone in on a short-term deal but it was proving too difficult so the easiest thing was to register myself as a player again.
“Thankfully, I didn’t have to come off the bench.
“However, all our attention now turns to the big league derby with Montrose.
“Thankfully we will have Ryan, Dougie and Callum back for the game.
“We know it will be tough as Stewart has them well organised.
“They obviously didn’t get off to the best start against Arbroath but they had a good result last week at Airdrie.
“So we are looking forward to the game and it will be the first time a lot of our lads have played there.
“It was great to finally get that league win again at East Fife last week and I felt we could have scored more.
“So hopefully we can build on that victory in the derby at Montrose.”