Brora Rangers assistant manager Craig Campbell managed to take positives from his side’s 3-0 defeat against Montrose in their opening group game in the Premier Sports Cup.
The Cattachs had only 14 players in their squad with new signing Josh Meekings, the former Caley Thistle and Dundee defender, among those missing out.
Goals from Martin Rennie, Blair Lyons and a Lewis Milne penalty gave the Links Park side a comfortable win but Campbell felt the encounter was a good exercise for his side.
He said: “It was a disappointing result but we spoke to the players beforehand about the fact we hadn’t managed to get any friendlies played due to Covid.
“It was our first game. You can train as much as you want but there is nothing like playing games to get the match fitness up.
“It was a good exercise to get minutes in the leg.
“We had a five-minute spell where we were pretty sloppy defensively and good teams like Montrose will punish you.
“You might get away with that in some Highland League games but you don’t when you are playing at that level.”
Today's team to face @MontroseFC in our Premier Sports Cup opener. pic.twitter.com/IMZtxL6UFL
— Brora Rangers (@brorarangers) July 10, 2021
Rennie went close when he fired a Graham Webster cross into the side-netting in the 10th minute but made no mistake nine minutes later when he forced home a fantastic cross from Andrew Steeves at the second attempt.
Brora fell further behind two minutes later when they were split open again when Liam Callaghan fed Lyons who skipped past two challenges before firing past Joe Malin.
On the half hour mark, Montrose should have made it three but Webster was denied by Malin.
Brora had a great chance to pull a goal back with five minutes of the half remaining when they won a free kick on the edge of the home box but Dale Gillespie’s free kick curled over the bar.
The home side added a third two minutes from time when Lyons was tripped by John Pickles and substitute Milen sent Malin the wrong way from the spot.
Next up for Brora is a trip to Dens Park on Tuesday night to face Dundee.
Campbell added: “We are still looking to strengthen the squad as we are light on numbers at the moment.
“We had three players self-isolating for 10 days so they missed out on a bit of training as well.
“Josh Meekings missed out with a slight bit of swelling on his knee so we didn’t want to risk him on the artificial pitch.
“It is nothing too serious but we didn’t want to make him worse. We aren’t sure if he will be back for the Dundee game but we will give him every chance.
“Dundee are a great side and we played them up in Brora last year (a 2-0 defeat for Brora). It was a tough game and we expect the same at Dens Park.”
POST MATCH WITH SP – “really encouraging performance from start to finish” pic.twitter.com/Lfmpxm3h5Z
— Montrose FC (@MontroseFC) July 10, 2021
