Montrose’s reliance on home form must end says Paul Hegarty
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Rarely has the importance of home advantage been more visible than looking at the record of Montrose in Ladbrokes League 2.
The Angus outfit have won all three of their matches in front of their own fans at Links Park, without conceding a single goal.
Those wins have come over the likes of the well-fancied Elgin City and Clyde, to propel the Gable Endies up to third in the table.
However, that position could be so much better if they can just sort out their displays on the road.
Paul Hegarty’s men have lost all four matches away from home in all competitions this season, a run that stretches back further with 13 defeats in their last 14 trips,
But now the man in charge is eyeing up a change in fortunes.
“We have to get something from Stirling because the away form isn’t good. The players have to take a lot of confidence from what we’re doing at home, and if we can take that home form on the road, then we’re confident of taking a result from Stirling on Saturday,” he told the Montrose Review.
Credit is due to his side for the effort they put in on their last two excursions, going down narrowly to Berwick Rangers and Annan Athletic, the two sides that sit above them in the table.
“I’m sure the players feel, same as I do, that we should have picked something up from the Annan and Berwick games…The contribution I’m getting from everybody has been first class. They’ve set a standard, they’ve set their stall out, and they’ve got to continue that,” the former Livingston boss added.
The match against Stirling will be a true measure of how far the club have come over the close season, after they narrowly avoided dropping out of the league entirely in 2014-15, surviving only though the play-offs.
Victory at Forthbank would maintain their assault on the upper echelons of the division, and could leave fans dreaming of a first promotion in 21 years.
Ladbrokes’ odds of 25/1 for them to win the league suggest that the Montrose bubble will burst sooner rather than later, but sort out their away form and a push for the play-offs looks set to continue.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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