Peterhead 1
Layne (21pen)
Montrose 1
Webster (68pen)
Peterhead manager Jim McInally spent the day handing out Christmas Hampers to the local community of the Peterhead area in conjunction with the SPFL Trust and the Balmoor boss also found time to make two changes from Saturday’s win at Partick Thistle.
Ryan Conroy was missing out through injury with Alan Cook coming in to replace him and Isaac Layne dropping to the bench with Lyall Cameron starting after being a substitute at Firhill.
The Blue Toon nearly got off to a flying start when Scott Brown found Cameron on the left and with the Peterhead skipper darting forward to meet Cameron’s cross with his head however his effort easily cleared that bar.
Peterhead’s injury jinx struck again after only 8 minutes when Gary Fraser fell to the ground after landing awkwardly and his immediate discomfort was recognised by the Montrose players who ushered the ball off the pitch.
Layne came on to replace Fraser, who appeared to suffer a knee injury, with Cook dropping back to a midfield role to allow the substitute to play up-front.
Former Peterhead striker Russell McLean had the ball into the net on 16 minutes however an offside flag was raised and as play raced to the other end Cameron’s trickery saw him send a ball across the face of the Montrose goal however there were no takers.
On 21 minutes Layne made an impact as he darted away from Kerr Waddell and charged into the Montrose penalty box with Kerr impeding his progress at the expense of a penalty that Layne lashed high past Allan Fleming.
Five minutes later Layne was all set to convert a Cameron pass and make it 2-0 until Andrew Steeves produced a last gasp tackle.
Montrose began to edge into the game and Kyle Bailey almost gave them a helping hand with a short headed pass-back however Joshua Rae came to his rescue.
Graham Webster got free on the left hand side of the hone box on 35 minutes however he sent his shot high over Rae’s bar.
Just before half-time Peterhead had claims for a second penalty turned down when Steven Boyd went down under a challenge from Sean Dillon as he waited for a cross.
Half time Peterhead 1 Montrose 0
Montrose had Peterhead pinned back in the opening stages of the second half and manager McInally responded by bringing on Derek Lyle for Layne in a bid to keep the visitors occupied in their own half.
Simon Ferry robbed Lewis Milne of the chance of an equaliser on the hour mark with a superb sliding tackle with Craig Johnston scooping the loose ball into the arms of Rae.
A leveller did arrive on 68 minutes and it too came from the penalty spot with Webster slotting in from 12 yards after Jason Brown had tangled with McLean.
A further enforced substitution came on 73 minutes when Gary MacKenzie was replaced by Derryn Kesson in what could never be called a like for like move with another reshuffle of positions by the Peterhead coaching team seeing Ferry drop into centre half with Kesson playing further forward.
A minute later a superbly timed sliding tackle from Kieran Freeman denied Webster the chance to run at Rae’s goal with the Montrose man denied late on when Ferry kicked his header away from the Peterhead goal.
The hosts had looked to hit on the break however Cook thumped their best effort high over however there was to be no further scoring.
Peterhead – Rae, Bailey, MacKenzie (Kesson 73), J Brown, Freeman, Ferry, S Brown, Fraser ((Layne 9) Lyle 59), Cameron, Boyd, Cook
Unused substitutes – Wilson, Bakar
