Kelty Hearts suffered a 2-0 home defeat to Montrose on Saturday. Second half goals from Matheus Machado and Ben Maciver-Redwod secured the three points for the visitors.
The breakthrough was eventually broken in the 68th minute through the substitute Machado. Andrew Steeves overlapped Blair Lyons on the left flank and the full back cut back across the face of the goal. Ruaridh Adams managed to push away however Machado was arriving late to calmly finish into an open net.
Stewart Petrie’s side doubled their lead just sixth minute through another substitute Maciver-Redwood. From a Montrose corner, the ball was recycled back out to Michael Gardyne who floated a ball into the middle of the box. There, Maciver-Redwood performed a power diving header past Adams who got a hand on it.
Although the first half ended goalless, there were plenty of chances for both sides. Just before the half-time whistle, the Gable Endies had the ball in the net. From a free-kick just outside of the box, Hester’s low shot was saved by Adams but parried out to Blair Lyons. However, the winger was judged to be offside and Montrose’s celebrations were halted.
The best chance of the first half came from the penalty spot for the Angus side. In the 29th minute, Kane Hester shimmied his way into the box and felt contact on his elbow which led him to go down. The referee gave the penalty, and from the spot Adams got down well to his left to save Graham Webster’s spot kick.
Kelty Hearts had two good chances in the first half to open the scoring. The first came when Craig Johnston dispossessed the final Montrose defender at the halfway line. Scott Williamson had the whole half to run in for the one-on-one, but his touch was too heavy in the end and Cammy Gill collected the loose ball.
In injury time before half time, a free-kick was swung in by Ross Cunningham. The cross met Tam O’Ware’s header which cannoned off the post. O’Ware would be sent off later in the second half, for a yellow card deep in the Kelty half in the 81st minute and another yellow two minutes later in the Montrose box.
Reflecting on the match to Kelty Hearts TV, Michael Tidser “thought we got what we deserve. Having said that, we had two chances at 0-0 and that’s football, the fine margins. I did say if we score the first goal the game changes but we didn’t and Montrose managed the game well. So overall, I’m bitterly disappointed.”
Written by: Jamie Szmitz
Photography: Kevin Marshall (@KayemPhoto)