Montrose had the better of the early encounters and territory but stout defence from Arbroath kept them at bay. The tackles were ferocious and every ruck was being contested with total commitment from both sides.

Montrose made the first breakthrough of the half when their scrum half made a clean break and offloaded to his support but Arbroath scrambled well and bundled the winger into touch. As with any local derby this was an ill tempered affair with with no quarter asked or given. Montrose made the breakthrough after running through a few phases before going over for a converted try. Montrose 7 - Arbroath 0

Arbroath roared straight back, Olliver was on the hoof with two defenders hanging off him and Montrose were forced into conceding a penalty. D Cargill kicked to touch five metres out but unfortunately the throw in was squint and Montrose were off the hook. Cull was replaced by Henderson because of cramp and Arbroath then enjoyed a better period of possesion. Gibson made a fine break but found himself isolated and G Cargill also made an interception but ran out of steam short of the line. The halftime whistle went but there were positive signs for Arbroath with gaps beginning to appear in the Montrose defence.

Balharry replaced Willams and Smith was replaced by Cowan who immediately began to put his opposite number under pressure in the set piece. Arbroath started the second half positively and had Montrose on the back foot. Arbroath were camped on their line and Olliver was held up after taking a crash ball from a quick tap. He was not to be denied though and from the resulting five metre scrum he crashed over from the pick and drive to put Arbroath right back in the game. Montrose 7 - Arbroath 7

Keillor was using his pace to counter attack at every opportunity, he made a nice break and offloaded to D Cargill before looping around to take the return pass. He then looked to release Farthing but the pass was unluckily adjudged to be forward. Skivington had to retire with an injured hand and Smith returned to the fray with Hall moving to hooker.

Gibson then made the breakthrough that all the visitors pressure deserved. Arbroath had went through a few phases and drew the defence in, Gibson took the ball at pace and powered through the gap to score a fine converted try. Montrose 7 - Arbroath 14.

The Arbroath pack were now dominating an increasingly tiring Montrose pack, a series of slow balls sapped their energy even further. D Cargill was keeping the defence on their toes by probing away with clever chips and grubbers, Keillor gathered a loose ball, spotted some space and made a darting outside break which left the despairing defenders trailing in his wake to open up a decent lead. Montrose 7 - Arbroath 19

Montrose then hit straight back and marched down the field with phase after phase drawing in more and more defenders until the crucial gap appeared to narrow Arbroaths lead to 14 - 19

Cull returned and made up for lost time with some good defensive work. Henderson snaffled a loose ball and made a break into Montrose territory. Cowan received a nice offload and bullocked his way towards the tryline, Hall was in close support but he was also caught. The ball was recycled and D Cargill sent a grubber kick into the try area, he outpaced the Montrose flanker to dive on the ball and give Arbroath some breathing space with 5 minutes left. Montrose 14 - Arbroath 26

Montrose had the last say in the match when they threw everything but the kitchen sink at the Arbroath defence. The exhausted defence were forced into conceding a series of penalties trying to keep them out but the pressure was relentless and the defensive line finally buckled on the full time whistle. Final Score Montrose 21 - Arbroath 26

Team : Smith, Skivington, Hall,Cull, McIntosh, Haynes, Olliver, Maton, D Cargill (c), Collins, Gibson, G Cargill, Williams, Farthing, Keillor, Henderson, Cowan, Balharry