Talk about getting off to a flyer... While I was still pullin' ma camera oot ma bag, the boys used the first thirty seconds of the game to pile straight into the Montrose defence and rattle one off the crossbar (nae luck Bobby). It was a crackin' start and really caught our hosts off-balance. As they struggled to come to terms with what the champions elect threw at them, we knuckled down and tried to get this one out of the way as soon as possible.

As it was, we won this one with a Johnnie Smart goal in the eleventh minute. Only seconds before, Lloyd Young had been unlucky to see his outstanding overhead kick tipped over the bar by the Montrose keeper. Never downhearted, however, Lloyd simply trotted over to corner and fired in a perfect cross which Smart just had to stick his nut on to open the scoring. At this stage, the gap between first and second really did look like the grand canyon.

What eventually levelled things up wasn't so much that the Gable Endies came back into the game but rather that the plastic pitch once again proved to be a difficult surface for a proper footballing side. Sub zero temperatures overnight Friday had led the the postponement of loads of games throughout the land but Montrose's 'all weather surface', they assured us, would ensure that today's match went ahead as planned. Hmmmm, all weather? Despite attempting to play a fast tempo with lots of passes, as often as not, the surface put hurdles in our way that the home side couldn't.

It was clear right from the start that Craig O'Reilly was having all sorts of trouble keeping his balance on the surface that, at times, looked more like a skating rink than a football pitch. However, his problems were nothing compared to Jamie McGowan's. After a meaty coming together with the Montrose centre forward, he landed really heavily on the rock hard surface and his rare start had lasted less than half an hour before having to head back to the dug out. Big Smart also landed awkwardly after one of the opposition's henchmen tried to break a couple of his ribs in a somewhat more chunky tackle than the centre half is used to....

Greig McDonald also took a sore one; clobbered by one of Montrose's midfield donkeys and then, to add insult to injury, appearing to get a right crack on the napper when he landed on the pitch. It's credit to the big man that, following some sterling work by the physio (a squirt of water and a wee rub - six years of medical school for this....) at the side of the park, he was able to settle into a great game in the middle of the defence. In an afternoon when everyone performed, Greig really earned the man of the match award.

Meanwhile, we continued to press forward looking for further goals. Fozzie, Linn and (in particular) Young all mastered the pitch conditions and were instrumental in everything good that was on view (granted, there was a paucity of any real top quality fuba). Despite no' bein' the tallest, Bobby Linn appears to grow in stature every match he plays. He wasn't to disappoint today either, rippin' the pish out of any Mo defenders that got close to him.

Lloyd Young too is in a rich vein of form right now so it was no surprise that he continued to torment our host's defence. He had a couple of decent chances that came to nought but, just ten minutes before the interval, fired a screamer of a shot from just outside the box that again stung the fingers of Mark Peat in the Montrose goal. Unlucky, wee man - but don't worry, we all saw how good you were today!

Having said that, as half time approached and darkness fell, it all became a bit gloomy out there. Thankfully, during the interval, one of the Montrose directors dug deep in his pocket and found a shilling for the meter. The floodlights slowly flickered into life and, as the temperature dropped, the ice crystals in the pitch sparkled like they do on some kind of unplayable, deathly all-weather pitch. The ref (who, together with his standside linesman had already had a blinder of a match - right!) determined that it was still ok to play so the guys fastened up their skates and slid out onto the rink for the second half.

From the kick off it was evident that Montrose were coping with the underfoot conditions far better than we were. As a result, they started to hold more possession and finally posed a threat to McCulloch's goal. However, for all their possession, all their sound and fury would signify nothing. They pushed forward with some decent passing but, in the final third, were no match for the Fife defence who continued to dominate. On the one occasion that they did get a shot on target, Dougie Cameron stayed calm and cooly cleared the ball off the line.

In the midfield, Kevin Fotheringham really grabbed the game by the baws and looked in total control - if anything, he appeared more and more composed as the match progressed, which is great testament to the auld guy's fitness. Together with Stewart and Young, he continued to offer support to O'Reilly and Linn up front.

They were still doing their best in tough conditions but big Craig never looked comfortable. He was eventually substituted with about fifteen minutes to go although that was probably down to the horrendous injury that he suffered just seconds before. The big lad had been easily shrugged off the ball by a guy half his size and immediately went down in agony, clutching his leg but forgetting about the beamer on his chops - the embarrassment must have been awful! (Just kidding, Craig.... I'm sure that a skint knee must sting something terrible - worse than a paper cut even....)

In his stead, Stevie Nick had a quarter of an hour to do his stuff. He fitted in immediately and looked lively right from the off. With only a couple of minutes of regulation remaining he had a perfect opportunity to calm the nerves and double our lead. Although he was in a fairly crowded box, he made space for himself and found himself one-on-one with their keeper and only had to pick his spot. Sadly, Mark Peat had no trouble in making the save; a bit more match practice and I reckon that Nicholas would have buried it so it would be unfair to criticise the young man too much.

However, he was nearly picking up pelters for his miss as Montrose immediately surged forward in a final attemp to get something out of the game. It appeared at first that Smart had cleared up the danger once again but the linescheat's flag went up and the ref awarded Montrose a free kick for hand ball. Utter bollocks - even from where I was at the other end of the park, it looked a harsh decision. But tae really put the icing on the cake, the referee then placed the ball at the edge of the box rather than three yards in from the touchline which was where Smart actually cleared the ball....!

With the seconds ticking away, this was really seat of your pants time. McCulloch got his wall lined up and, to a man (and wuman), we all held our breaths. As the ball zoomed high, wide and scary (the neighbours over the back must have been worried for their windaes...), the noise from the Fife fans all round the ground rained onto the ice arena and the points were won.

Despite adding about ten minutes injury time, the whistler eventually blew and our heroes had taken one more huge step towards winning promotion (I'm too superstitious to put anything in writing about championships just yet....). The four hundred odd fans who'd made the trip were cock-a-hoop and the players too left us under no illusions as to just what it meant to them. It hadn't been the best game we've played this season but it would be hard to say that it wasn't one of the best performances!

With their team well beaten, however, there was still enough time for a gang of home fans to prove that, while their team's no match for us on the park, they're top of the table in the Thuggery League. As the joyful Fife fans poured from the ground they were pelted with all sorts of stuff (coins, litter and even a fuckin' Mars bar). Apparently, there'd been a gang of young hooligans causing bother throughout the second half and now they were ready for some afters. To their credit, the Montrose stewards got right on top of it and ensured that the local constabulary got involved immediately. A few of the neds obviously evaded the cops' attention, mind, as a number of Fife fans had to suffer the further ignominy of the wee hoodlums' hurling more abuse as we made our way home.

But ah guess we could take that all night. Stick and stones (and Mars bars) and all that.... As we made our happy way home tae Fife we could all take heart that we're now sixteen points clear of the rest. We're not quite yet on the home straight but the games are starting to run out for every other team. Next up it's Forfar, officially the worst team in the land just now. We can't take anything for granted but, given the attitude that all the players are displaying right now, we've got to be confident of another three points. See you all next week back home at Bayview - C'mon the Fife!

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