Brechin overcame St Johnstone today in a fairly scrappy friendly at Glebe Park today, with goals from Scott Walker and a Paul Ritchie double.
It was Saints who opened the scoring after half an hour though, through their own new striker, Michael Moore. Some poor defending allowed Saints to get a cross in from the right wing, and Moore was left unmarked to head past Hay.
Brechin equalised not long before half time though, and it was a well worked move which allowed Kevin McLeish to cross in to Scott Walker running in at the far post. The defender stuck his header in at the near post, with Saints keeper helpless.
In the second half, Saints took the lead again, and Michael Moore was again the scorer. A Saints move somehow worked it's way through to the tall striker, and after Hay parried his first attempt, the second found it's way into the bottom corner.
Brechin battled back, and went close a couple of times. Scott MacNicol in particular was surging forward at regular intervals, but David Hannah had the Saints defence well organised.
Brechin finally got themselves back into it, after Graham Gibson was released through the middle. After making it into the box, the substitute was hauled back by the Saints defender, and the ref pointed to the spot. Paul Ritchie was the man to step forward, and sent the keeper the wrong way with a well placed shot into the bottom corner.
The move which won Brechin the game was similar to the one which Michael Moore scored the opener from. Some slack defending from Saints allowed City in down the right, and Paul Ritchie ghosted into the middle unmarked, and sent his header through the hands of the Saints keeper and in off the bar.
At the full time whistle, John Connolly attempted to get onto the pitch to have a few words with the referee, but was sent packing by one of the assistants. The Saints fans seemed a bit aggrieved about the result, but in the end, it was probably about right.
Man of the Match: Scott Walker. I wasn't too convinced about this signing before today, but he had a great game. Calm at the back, and managed to get forward when needed. The only blemish on his performance was that he gave the ball away a couple of times. His recovery made up for it though.
Brechin Line-up: Hay, Deas, McCulloch, Walker, MacNicol, King, Byers (Jackson), McLeish (Mitchell), Johnson (Winter), Templeman (Gibson), Ritchie.