Scottish League Cup: Group G
Tuesday 16th July 2024
Motherwell of the Scottish Premiership travelled up to Angus to take on Montrose, who play two divisions beneath them in League One. The match was part of the second round of fixtures in Group G of the Scottish League Cup, which is currently known as the Premier Sports Cup following a sponsorship deal with a pay TV company. Motherwell were the early group leaders, having beaten Edinburgh City 3-0 at home the previous weekend whilst Montrose were losing 3-2 at Partick Thistle.
Links Park, the home of Montrose Football Club since 1887, can be found just to the east of the town centre, some 600m inland from the long, sandy North Sea beaches that are so enticing on a fine summer’s day. The stadium’s capacity of 4,936 includes 1,338 covered seats in the Bryan Keith Stand, which was constructed in the mid-1990’s, shortly after the eponymous Keith gained control of the club.
This wasn’t my first visit to Links Park, but it was the first time that I successfully managed to witness a football match there. My previous attempt, some ten years earlier, was abruptly thwarted just after I’d paid on the turnstile. Within seconds of entering the ground on a late summer’s Saturday afternoon, the PA system announced that the referee had decided to postpone the match due to high winds. I did at least get a free pie by way of compensation as they sought to find a home for all the hot food that had been prepared.
The stadium boasts a 3G artificial pitch, which sees plenty of use as it is shared by local non-league side Montrose Roselea and can also be hired out by the local community. My £12 match ticket (purchased in advance online) allowed access to all home sections of the ground, including the seating, so I opted for a spot in the main stand close to the home dugout.
Motherwell started the game well and enjoyed the lion’s share of the possession without creating many clear cut opportunities. Montrose defended resolutely but found it difficult to gain a foothold in the opposition half and it seemed only a matter of time until the visitors broke the deadlock.
When the goal came, it was courtesy of a set piece straight from the training ground. Motherwell won a corner on their left side and manager Stuart Kettlewell was heard shouting ‘number 1’ several times to the taker and to some of the players waiting inside the penalty box. The pre-planned routine worked a treat, with an in-swinging corner met at the near post by Irish centre-back Shane Blaney, who headed into the net past the helpless Cammy Gill in the Montrose goal.
The half time interval came with Motherwell a goal to the good and looking comfortable. I took the opportunity to spend fifteen minutes wandering around the ground to check out the view from some different perspectives. Phyllis’s Pie Hut was clearly popular amongst the home fans, with a sizeable queue of people waiting to taste her wares. It was formally renamed in honour of it’s long-standing custodian, Phyllis McLean, earlier this year to mark her 25 years of service.
I would estimate that around 450 Motherwell fans made the 116 mile journey from North Lanarkshire to Angus, and the bulk of them occupied the end third of the main stand, with the remainder gathering behind the the goal at the eastern end of the ground. It was an impressive travelling support for a Tuesday evening and they were a vocal minority in the crowd of 1,036.
The second half initially followed a similar pattern to the first, but as it wore on, the home side started to get more and more into the game. It became a more open encounter with Montrose realising that they were capable of getting something out of it whilst Motherwell strove to quell any hopes of a comeback with a killer second goal.
It seemed as though Motherwell had done enough to take the three points until Montrose produced a spirited late rally. They had one effort cleared off the line with eight minutes to go and then, four minutes later, they conjured up an equaliser through Ali Shrive, who turned sharply inside the box and guided the ball just inside the far post.
A quirk of the Premier Sports Cup is that drawn matches go straight into a penalty shoot-out, with the winner getting a bonus point. Therefore, with the match ending 1-1, we were treated to the spectacle of a spot-kick contest. It took place in front of the away fans, and perhaps that made the difference as Motherwell players slotted home all five of their penalties with Montrose missing one to hand the visitors a 5-4 win.
All of which meant that it was close to 10:pm by the time we began to file out of the ground, musing on the rarity of an evening match going to penalties yet still finishing in broad daylight. That’s the beauty of summertime football in Scotland.