After going so close in so many games this season Montrose finally charted three points and even had a bit of lady luck along the way. The win is perfect preparation for next week's trip to Easter Road for the Active Nation Scottish Cup fifth roun
d tie against SPL side Hibs.
Manager Steven Tweed signalled his intent to bring three points home by lining up with a dynamic 4-3-3 formation. The team consisted of McNeil, Sinclair left back and new signing Stephen McNally at right back with Sean Crighton and Alan Campbell looking to emulate their early season partnership at centre-back.
The midfield lined up with Davidson, Hegarty and Milligan. Up front were Tosh, Nicholas and Gemmell. The bench consisted of Coutts, Tomana, Maitland and Nicol.
Montrose were motivated and keen to establish themselves early on.
Montrose pressed forward and Aaron Sinclair jinked past two players from the left and released Nicholas on the right who fired in a good ball towards Hegarty, but he was unable to find a way through to goal.
After the early pressure from Montrose, Berwick finally got out of first gear and began to sit in the opposite half.
Berwick won a number of corners at this point, and the first moment of note included McNally clearing off the line and past McNeil's right hand post. This was closely followed by Ian Little finding space and a free header at the back post, fortunately he sent the ball straight at McNeil.
Berwick looked more likely to score at this point as the back four and McNeil struggled to contain the numerous crosses and corners.
It was Montrose who took the lead in 24 minutes. Some excellent work by Tosh brought Nicholas into play on the right and he got in behind the full back and aimed a cross at John Gemmell who managed to swing his foot round and guide the ball in off of Steven Notman's thigh.
The goal lifted Montrose and they continued to give the home defence a torrid time with Tosh and Gemmell a constant nuisance with runs into channels, headed flicks and closing down at every opportunity.
Montrose were playing direct football and whilst it wasn't particularly pretty it was very effective. Nicholas was constantly getting space behind the home defence and he was carving out chances for his team mates with some excellent through balls.
Shortly afterwards, Hugh Davidson was sent through on goal and the captain should have buried it past the oncoming Peat but scuffed his shot straight at the ex-Montrose keeper.
At half time, Montrose were ahead and would probably have preferred another 10 minutes of play, whilst the Berwick players trudged off the park in anticipation of a half-time roasting from manager Jimmy Crease.
The second half kicked off with John Maitland on for Nicholas. The striker was carrying a groin injury and was taken off as a precaution. Montrose switched to a 4-4-2 with Maitland going into the centre of the park alongside Hegarty.
Berwick rallied in the early stages of the second half and pushed Montrose onto the back foot with a series of crosses and corners. McNeil had looked very shaky when coming to claim crosses and Jimmy Crease had obviously instructed a more direct game to capitalise on this weakness.
It almost worked for Radsinsky in 60 minutes when McNeil gifted the striker the ball 3 yards out. Fortunately for Montrose, the striker ballooned the ball over the bar. Wave after wave of home attacks continued but Alan Campbell and Sean Crighton were first to every ball and every header.
As Berwick pushed for an equaliser, Montrose continued to press for a second goal. An excellent one-touch move on the right involving Gemmell, Milligan and Tosh presented John Maitland with an opportunity, but the youngster made a poor decision and sent the ball high and wide from 18 yards when he could have clearly taken a few more touches into the box.
As the game approached the 90th minute, McNally and Milligan exchanged passes on the right. McNally played a direct ball up to Gemmell who timed his jump perfectly and headed on to Paul Tosh who was in space, from there the striker trundled through Mark Peat and slotted the ball home.
Tosh was smothered by his teammates as Montrose could sense victory. The striker has now scored four goals in four games and looks like a fantastic piece of business by Steven Tweed.
Steven Tweed and Jim Moffat will be pleased with what they saw. It was a steely win based on some resolute defending and combative midfield play.
Gemmell and Tosh linked up very well up front and the Berwick defence will be delighted to see the back of them for a few months. The back four were solid, with Campbell in particular looking much improved from recent weeks.
There were a number of good shifts but Hugh Davidson had to be man of the match. The captain has had a torrid season but he covered a lot of ground, won a number of tackles and controlled play for the majority of the game.
Montrose: McNeil 6, Milligan 7, McNally 7, Hegarty 6, Campbell 7, Crighton 7, Nicholas 7 (Maitland), Davidson 8, Tosh 7, Gemmell 8, Sinclair 6. Subs: Nicol, Tomana, Coutts.
