A first half penalty kick from Grant Manzie proved to be the decisive moment of Saturday’s East Premier League clash on the Canniepairt.

With 33 minutes on the clock, debutant striker Lee Bryce, signed on-loan from Raith Rovers on the Friday night, took the ball around ‘keeper Ross McLeod, only to be upended.  Referee Lorraine Clark immediately pointed to the spot, but McLeod escaped without so much as a caution.  Manzie confidently tucked away the penalty to give ‘Port the lead.

Bryce had been fairy prominent right from the start of the match, when he was unfortunate to be penalised for using his strength to shake off his marker in the opening seconds.  He also set up Manzie for a stinging strike on ten minutes, shortly before Tayport’s first penalty claim, when Manzie was brought down inside the area.

At the other end, Frazer Fitzpatrick had to be sharp to prevent a near own-goal from Stuart Ferguson, but, otherwise, the ‘keeper was untroubled by the Montrose attack, which included former Tayport player Gary Fraser.

After Manzie’s penalty, ‘Port had two chances to stretch their lead, just before the break.  A challenge by Mark Whatley sent Manzie clear, but he took too long to get his shot away.  Similarly, Bryce raced through, only for McLeod to block with his legs, on 44 minutes.

Early in the second half, Bryce tested McLeod with a header, while Manzie flashed a header wide, before being replaced by Ronnie Kenneth.  Then, on 75 minutes, the referee amazingly failed to spot the visiting ‘keeper clattering Lee Bryce on the edge of the area.  After eventually seeing the assistant’s raised flag, a free kick was awarded, but a lack of consultation ensured that there would again be no real sanction for McLeod.

Shortly afterwards, when Stefan Elvin’s cross came back off the woodwork, Ronnie Kenneth fired in a shot from close-range and McLeod produced a wonder-save to keep Montrose in the game.

He then made another save to deny Bryce, whose lung-bursting run down the left flank had taken him away from the Roselea rearguard.  Substitute Barry Donachie was also thwarted by the on-form ‘keeper, late on.

There was a real scare in injury-time, when midfielder Rioch fired narrowly wide of Frazer Fitzpatrick’s right-hand post.  An equaliser at that stage would have been unjust, as the Canniepairt outfit had created enough opportunities to win the game more comfortably.