Ground 9: Links Park

Links Park, Montrose

Game: Montrose 2 v 2 Elgin City

Date: Saturday 27^th October 2012

Competition: Scottish Football League Division 3

Attendance: 346

Admission: £11

Programme: £2

A gloriously sunny Saturday in late October saw me and my Dad set off to Montrose for my second game of the weekend.

Setting off at midday we made our way over the Forth Road Bridge, past Dundee and then across to Montrose arriving around forty minutes before kick-off. We even managed to get parked on the street with the entrance to Link’s Park at the end of it. We were joined by my Dad’s friend Brian (who had been at the Falkirk game with us) and we set off in search of a cafe to grab a coffee before the game.

The town centre was around five minutes away through some very pleasant and wide streets. The town centre was pretty busy even for a cold day and plenty of folk seemed to be giving Link’s Park a miss for the comfort of the pub. It’s understandable but nonetheless must be disappointing for a club like Montrose.

We arrived just before kick-off and paid our £11 to get in. Link’s Park is a lovely wee ground, with a modern main stand dominating the ground. There’s an old fashioned terracing behind one of the goals and the rest of the ground is just tarmaced meaning you can get very close to the action on the artificial pitch. Which is what we did taking up a position opposite the main stand.

Elgin started the game strongly, and found themselves 2-0 up in the first half. The first goal was a result of a lack square pass from one Montrose centre half to another which was intercepted by Stuart Leslie who slotted home. Soon after Elgin were 2-0 up against ten men as Montrose goalkeeper Sandy Wood was sent off for a foul in the box. Daniel Moore duly dispatched the penalty past David Crawford to give Elgin the early advantage. Wood’s replacement was David Crawford whose previous appearance against Elgin saw him concede six just a few weeks earlier.

At this stage, against ten men and having beaten Montrose 6-1 in their last meeting there was surely a question of how many? But as I’d witnessed only ten days earlier at Clyde, Elgin are clearly catchable with a two goal lead. Instead of pressing their advantage, Elgin seemed content to keep the ball but not push on. Montrose seemed to gain confidence from this timidity and pulled a goal back through Garry Wood who scored from the corner of the penalty box. It was a fantastic goal.

Snow from the night before, swept to the side of the pitch

Elgin had a chance to put the game out of Montrose’s reach once more less than a minute later when Terry Masson was judged (fairly) to have handled the ball in the box. Moore, was handed an opportunity to grab his second goal of the day. However his penalty was desperately poor and possibly led to more doubts in the minds of the Elgin players. Then, in stoppage time, Elgin gave away a needless free kick, which was rifled into the net by Jamie Winter. The goal sent the Montrose crowd into delirium and left Elgin fans dejected, once again the Black and Whites squandering an opportunity to strengthened their position at the summit of the Third Division.