Montrose 1 Airdrie 0: Defensive mishap sees Diamonds defeated in play-off first leg

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Airdrie will need to turnaround a 1-0 deficit after a Championship play-off semi-final first leg defeat away at Montrose.Craig Johnston opened the scoring for the hosts after miscommunication in Airdrie's defence between left-back Brody Paterson and goalkeeper Max Currie.Sean Dillon had an effort hooked off the Airdrie line as Stewart Petrie's side stormed into control of the tie.Dylan Easton soon hit the post as Ian Murray's visiting side look to strike back and find the form that saw them end their League One campaign 20 games unbeaten.They'll now need to show powers of recovery during Saturday's second leg on home soil at the Penny Cars Stadium after a rare loss.Murray made nine changes to his rotated Diamonds that drew 1-1 with Peterhead on Saturday, with only Dunfermline loanee Kyle MacDonald and forward Gabby McGill remaining.Both sides suffered pain at the play-off stage last year, with Airdrie looking to go one better than their final defeat to Morton, while Montrose were looking to make amends for their last four loss against the same opposition.The New Broomhill club arrived at Links Park with a club-record 20-game unbeaten league run behind them but coming up against the last team to beat them in league action, way back in December, they were wary.Michael Gardyne's free-kick into their box on four minutes showed them why.

His cross was put into a dangerous area asking for a tap-in but nobody could turn it home.Montrose had started brighter than their visitors but they didn't have to work hard for their opener on nine minutes.

It was a gift that Airdrie couldn't afford to give.What looked like a harmless situation soon proved lethal, as Paterson's pass looped over his goalkeeper for Johnston to run in and slot