Third Division: Steven Tweed departs Montrose on losing note at Annan

Published on Sunday 20 March 2011 17:00

Montrose player/manager Steven Tweed informed his players after Saturday's 2-1 defeat from Annan that he was reluctantly standing down from his position due to work commitments and, unfortunately for the Links Park chief, he could not go out with a bang.

Paul Tosh had given a Montrose side, including Tweed in central defence, the lead midway through the first half when he headed home and it looked like the Gable Endies boss, who had informed the club's board of his decision at the tail end of last week, was in line for a winning send off.

Ian Harty had other ideas and he equalised two minutes into the second half and then notched the winner from the penalty spot after the visiting Alan Campbell was dismissed for handball.

Tweed, who was appointed in January 2009 said: "I have recently taken on a new job with The Royal Bank of Scotland and have tried to combine both careers and a family life, but it has proven to be extremely challenging."

Angus neighbours Arbroath extended their lead at the summit to five points by winning 5-2 at East Stirling in a game that saw goalkeeping errors in both goals before half-time and a Gavin Swankie hat-trick in the second.

There are six sides chasing three promotion places with second-placed Albion Rovers leading the way after their 1-1 draw with bottom side Clyde and Scott Chaplain cancelling out Marc McCusker's strike for the Bully Wee.

Elgin re-ignited their promotion push with a 2-1 win at Stranraer with Jamie Duff and then Paul Kaczan having the Borough Briggs men two ahead before Paul Murphy pulled a late goal back.

Queens Park's 12-game unbeaten run ended at Berwick Rangers as they lost 3-1 with the Shielfield men bouncing back from a 6-1 defeat in midweek against Albion Rovers.

Spiders' midfielder Martin McBride was penalised for handball on 36 minutes and Paul Currie netted the resultant penalty kick with David Greenhill making two before the break. Tony Quinn pulled a goal back before Greenhill added a third to keep the Borderers interest in the play-offs alive.

Borderers boss Jimmy Crease said: "We bounced back in great style from that midweek hammering."

Hampden counterpart Gardner Speirs lamented: "Our good run had to end some time and to be honest it deserved to end in this game. We will re-group and look to get back into the play-off pack in the coming weeks."