Nigel Blackwell Posted September 15 Share Posted September 15 Access to the ground was made unnecessarily difficult for the reasons noted above. Given I was not certain I was attending there was no way I was buying a ticket in advance for a league 2 game with 400 in attendance. Being told in no uncertain terms that away fans could not pay at the gate was hardly going to entice me. I arrived expecting to pay cash (remember the home fans were awarded that luxury) and having to masquerade as a Montrose fan for the afternoon, only to be told by stewards I didn’t need a ticket and that I could use my credit card, but I’d have to traipse round the ground to the away turnstiles. Five minutes to kick off, not the best news but at least I wouldn’t have to sit on my hands all afternoon amongst the Montrose ultras. Get to the turnstiles only to be told that I couldn’t use my card as the machine wasn’t working, but some guy with a bag of money said it was ok, we could pay by cash. So I did. In the end I was happy to sit in the stand but It would have been nice to have been afforded the opportunity to witness our one decent assault on the Montrose goal in the 2nd half from behind the goal. So, not the best experience, and set against all life’s other troubles, it barely registers, but it really shouldn’t be that troublesome getting access to a Scottish lower league game. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francesc Fabregas Posted Sunday at 08:42 Author Share Posted Sunday at 08:42 A frustrating afternoon. I think the scoreline flattered Montrose somewhat - outside of the goals, there wasn't really that much between the sides - but they're a smart, streetwise team who punished Stenhousemuir's errors and then largely kept them at arm's length, and they merited the win. Mikey Anderson was culpable for the first goal, dithering on the ball before losing possession in a dangerous area, and Kinlay Bilham switched off at the second, switching off and allowing the excellent Ryan Williamson to rampage into the box. Both goals were superbly taken but Kane Hester and Williamson should never have had the opportunities in the first place. Aidan Quinn's header at the death added gloss to the result. Stenny looked positive after half time, changing to a 3-5-2 system and dominating for a 20-minute spell, and they had a superb chance to get back into the game when Ross Taylor, I think, then Blair Alston had the chance to score but their efforts were blocked and the opportunity thwarted. It's easy to say now but had we got the goal, we could have gone on to take something from the match, but Stewart Petrie's substitutions were superbly timed and took the wind out of our sails. It all just petered out after that. Montrose are a good side. Strong at the back with good options at full-back in Williamson and Andy Steeves, experience and canniness in midfield, and two dynamic forwards in Hester and Ben Maciver-Redwood. Maciver-Redwood had a solid game and made things uncomfortable for Gregor Buchanan and Kyle Banner. It was good to be be back at Links Park, even if the set-up was a bit more shambolic than we've been used to - I don't understand why there was no pay-at-the-gate option for away fans or why there was segregation in place. One of Links Park's best features is the option to change ends at half time, and I would have preferred that than sitting in the stand (although you get a great view of the match from there, to be fair). I thought Ross Meechan played well, Ross Taylor tried to get us going and Matty Aitken put himself about up top, but that was about it. Fin Allan hasn't shown much since coming in from Dundee and Kelsey Ewen didn't give us a lot after his introduction. There were too many times where we'd take an extra touch or try a flick that didn't come off when simpler options were available. We might have got away with stuff like this in League 2 but there's no mucking around here! I'm not too despondent, we're going to have to expect afternoons like this in League 1, but we really didn't make it easy for ourselves and got what we deserved. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scorge Posted Sunday at 09:14 Share Posted Sunday at 09:14 (edited) 33 minutes ago, Francesc Fabregas said: It was good to be be back at Links Park, even if the set-up was a bit more shambolic than we've been used to - I don't understand why there was no pay-at-the-gate option for away fans or why there was segregation in place. One of Links Park's best features is the option to change ends at half time, and I would have preferred that than sitting in the stand (although you get a great view of the match from there, to be fair). 4 hours ago, Nigel Blackwell said: So, not the best experience, and set against all life’s other troubles, it barely registers, but it really shouldn’t be that troublesome getting access to a Scottish lower league game. 11 hours ago, Neilly said: I'm sure someone from the club will read this so will hopefully take it on board moving forward. We don't carry a big support obviously but I would imagine the experience will put people off returning for the next game and every penny should be a prisoner when crowds are circa 300 odd. Plenty of the regulars are firing in complaints/feedback as well, so I'd hope these issues are rectified in the next fortnight. Trying to push folk into buying tickets online and giving them virus alerts for their trouble is a terrible, terrible look, and that's before any cybersecurity implications.... Edited Sunday at 09:15 by Scorge 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brummo Posted Sunday at 12:04 Share Posted Sunday at 12:04 13 hours ago, PortyMo said: I'll pass these comments on to the club. There seemed to be a virus or something like affecting the official site, which when you clicked on a link took you to a webpage unrelated to it which looked dodgy. I meant to report it but didn't. The official website used to be fine but I think since it changed hands, it seems to have become less reliable. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brummo Posted Sunday at 12:09 Share Posted Sunday at 12:09 7 hours ago, Nigel Blackwell said: Access to the ground was made unnecessarily difficult for the reasons noted above. Given I was not certain I was attending there was no way I was buying a ticket in advance for a league 2 game with 400 in attendance. Being told in no uncertain terms that away fans could not pay at the gate was hardly going to entice me. Your team got promoted, remember!? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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