Montrose fail to progress after Partick defeat

The game got underway and it was Montrose who looked a threat as a corner was won but came to nothing.

Montrose were using long balls to clear the danger from their own half and Lyons looked to be away but was felled and the kick was cleared by Partick who swept to the other end and opened the scoring. It was a great through ball inside Steeves on the left which was collected by Jack McMillan who cut inside and fired in a shot off the inside far post to make it 1-0 after 17 minutes.

As half-time approached Partick scored again in stoppage time. A free-kick from 20 yards was hit into the top corner by Kevin Holt with Lennox having no chance.

Into the second half and the Mo had chances but it was the Championship side who looked more of a threat going forward. The game then looked as if it might change with Montrose getting it a bit more together and indeed Craig Johnston raced through the middle to the edge of the Partick box and slid it to Craig Brown who side stepped his man and hit a beauty into the top left corner to pull it back to 2-1 on 55 minutes.

Then disaster for Montrose as a very soft goal made it 3-1 to Partick. A mistake wide left was put into the centre after the defence failed to clear it and Aidan Fitzpatrick collected it on the right and his shot crept into the net past Lennox on 66 minutes.

Montrose plugged away, but, another soft goal on 81 minutes gave the game away. The ball was given away in midfield and a swift break down the right ended up with a tap-into an open goal for Danny Mullen from a yard out.

Instead of cautiously protecting Waddell in goal, Montrose went straight up the other end and scored again as Lyons’ shot was saved at the expense of a corner from which Craig Johnston got the final touch to make it 4-2 on 85 minutes. The last few minutes were played out by both teams without further incident and it ended as a 4-2 win for Partick Thistle.

Meawhile, Montrose FC forward Martin Rennie made his 100th appearance for the club recently, having been made to wait almost a whole season to do so.

A hernia injury suffered following his 99th appearance in the first game of last season, sidelined the 28 year-old striker for nine months, recovering just in time for the final league game of the campaign..

Rennie initially netted 20 times in 74 appearances for Stewart Petrie’s side after joining from Junior side Lochgelly Albert in January 2018, and the Mo faithful will forever remember his vital assist to Jamie Redman’s league-winning goal against Elgin.

He went on to become the club’s first ever international transfer, moving to Irish Premier Division outfit, St Patrick’s Athletic FC in January 2020. However, hindered by the onset of the pandemic things didn’t quite work out and Petrie acted quickly to bring Rennie back to Links Park, where he is currently contracted until January.