Faaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrfiiiiiiiiirrrrr Preview

So, after a beautiful week of weather, hopefully the conditions will persist for tomorrow's trip to Station Park.

The fortunes of both sides have changed somewhat since our remarkable 4-0 drubbing of the Bridies a couple of Tuesdays back. At the end of that game, we seemed set to stride away from Elgin and leave them marooned at the bottom of the league for another season; in fact, the opposite has been the case. Meanwhile, it looked back then that the Loons wouldn't win again this season, indeed, so awful was their performance that night, that it seemed amazing that they had won at all during 2009-10.

Fester's side stopped the awful rot in the following game, with a backs-to-the wall 1-1 draw against the Wee Rovers. Since then, they have won four games on the bounce, scoring thirteen goals and conceding just two, still have a mathematical if unlikely-in-reality chance of catching the Franchise, and have now guaranteed themselves a play off spot at least. It's unlikely that they will finish lower than third, and so can begin to turn half an eye towards playing the notoriously bottling Shire in the play off semi finals. Amongst their recent impressive performances was a battling 3-2 win over the Franchise at the yellow plastic West Lothian pustule, hilariously driving a squadron of panzers over the "Livi" championship-winning celebration marquee in the process. Moreover, Faaaarfir go into this game having not played in midweek, so will be better rested than us after our bruising and attritional double header against Annan Agricultural.

We've not lost at this venue for thirteen years, and if we win tomorrow it really will confirm that we have some kind of Indian sign over the Bridies on their own patch. Some of the real high points in recent seasons have come at this ground; our 5-1 cup triumph in 2004, a ridiculously one sided 3-0 win last April, when Fraser Milligan, at the peak of his powers, shredded a ten man home side (Steven McNally, you'll remember, had been ordered off after an altercation with David Cox in the first half). Even this season, an injury-stricken, confidence-bereft and inexperienced Montrose side did really well to grind out a 2-2 draw in the autumn, with Chris Hegarty's last gasp equaliser brilliantly rescuing a point- the very least we deserved from that game.

The trouble we will have tomorrow is, who's going to be fit to play? Gemmill is gone through suspension; Tomana and McNeil were both injured; the cupboard is very bare for Steven Tweed, as he umms and ahs over a very thin looking team line up. I'm sure Andy McNeil will be all right to return to goal tomorrow, as his knock didn't seem too bad; I'm less sure that Marek will make it, as his left shin/ankle looked to have been badly damaged. I think we will start with the same back four, Davidson and Hegarty in defensive midfield with Fleming ready to resume down the left win if Tomana is, as I suspect, ruled out. Up front, we'll just have to hope Tosh has returned to fitness, and is motivated to cause a load of problems for his old club. Stevie Nic should be fit, but I'd waver between starting him and young Martin Boyle, assuming he is available.

Montrose simply need to win all three remaining matches to give themselves any chance of avoiding the wooden spoon. If we lose or draw tomorrow, we then need to beat the champions-in-all-but-name Franchise at Links Park next weekend- an outcome few would imagine to be likely. All we have to focus on is trying to give ourselves a chance at Borough Briggs on the last day of the season. It may sound odd but, after such an awful campaign, simply avoiding last place would feel almost as good as finishing in the top four, and would give the club a real platform to build on for 2010-11.

See you there! It would be great to be part of a big Montrose turn out tomorrow. The Bridies may need the points to keep themselves in second, but we need the points much more, and the bigger the turn out, the better the performance will hopefully be.

Fans Open Meeting, Links Park, Thursday 22 April, 1900hrs

I'm told that an open meeting has been called at Links Park this coming Thursday by the remaining directors. Presumably, this will enable us to hear the exact state of the club's finances, and to develop some ideas with the board about how the club can be taken forward in the seasons to come. It certainly promises to be an interesting evening, and again a big turn out of fans is to be hoped for.