Reserves v Montrose
Tuesday, 22nd Feb 2000Reserve League East
DUNFERMLINE 7 MONTROSE 0
Given the strengh of the Pars team tonight (Russell Taylor being the only one of the starting eleven without a first team start for the Pars as yet) it wasn`t a great surprise to see the points go to Dunfermline. It may have been slightly surprising however to see them go in five up at half time.
Colin NISH opened the scoring after 15 minutes. Eddie May cut the ball back from close range before being fouled, but the referee wisely played the advantage and allowed the lanky striker to hammer home from just in front of the line.
Ten minutes later, COYLE got his first of the night. A cross from Squires on the right made its way through to the back post, where Coyle was waiting to volley it home from a yard out.
Within five minutes COYLE grabbed his second. A silky touch deceived the Montrose defence, giving him the extra yard he needed to race into the box and blast the ball into the top corner from 12 yards.
Half Time: Dunfermline 3 Montrose 0
Montrose restarted, but inside a minute found themselves four goals down. Hamish FRENCH latched onto a through ball on the left side, ran into the box and curled it round keeper Fitzpatrick and into the far bottom corner of the net.
David GRAHAM made it 5-0 with just three minutes remaining when he beat the offside trap and blasted the ball into the far corner from just inside the box.
The second half looked like it might be a damp squib compared to the five-goal excitement of the first, and it took until the 68th minute for another goal.
David Graham wound his way into the box but his low effort from a tight angle was parried out by Fitzpatrick. The ball only travelled as far as young Pars defender Russell TAYLOR, who slid the ball past a couple of bodies to make it six-nil for the Pars.
The 65th minute triple substitution (Squires, Coyle and French being replaced) almost produced another goal when, in the 71st minute, promising young midfielder McLeish caught his thirty yard drive sweetly, sending the ball curling past the Montrose keeper at great speed but saw it crash off the crossbar and drop in front of the line.
With ten minutes remaining, GRAHAM got his second goal to send Pars 7-0 up. Although he looked to have been offside, the assistant on the far side thought otherwise, and Graham produced a fine strike from the edge of the box, slamming the ball home off the far post.
In the final minute of the game Nish should have joined Coyle and Graham with a second goal, but when the ball dropped to him two yards out he blasted it over the bar although it seemed easier to score.
The game was not exactly played at breakneck speed, with nobody collecting any bookings, and the Pars didn`t give a particularly great performance. However you can`t grumble about a 7-0 victory. Man of the match must surely have been Skinner who, while playing as a centre half, made a number of good tackles, won many headers and displayed positively first-class distribution of the ball.
SUBS NOT USED:
SCORERS: Nish, Coyle 2, French, Graham 2, Taylor
MONTROSE: Fitzpatrick, Young, Meldrum, Robertson, Niddrie, Collie, Duffy, Trialist, Trialist, O`Driscoll, Crab; Subs N. Reid, Greig, S. Reid
SUBS NOT USED:
REFEREE: J Fenton
WEATHER:
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