A dream job has become fraught with nightmares for Montrose manager Paul Hegarty.
The former Dundee United manager ended a six-year absence from management when he was appointed Gable Endies manager in February.
He had previously been working as assistant manager at East Fife, but his return to the frontline came at a horrendous period for the club with Montrose struggling for SPFL survival at the bottom of League 2.
Despite a sterling effort from Hegarty and his players, which culminated with him collecting the manager of the month award for April yesterday, the former Aberdeen assistant-manager was unable to take Montrose off the bottom of the division and is now bracing himself for two games against Brora in the SPFL play-off final which could be defining in the history of the club.
He said: “I’ve just been named manager of the month in the division yet here I am preparing the team for two of the biggest games in the club’s history. Football can be a cruel game at times.”
The stakes are high at Links Park as defeat to Highland League cham-pions Brora, who beat Lowland League winners Edinburgh City on penalties to reach the play-off final, would mean Highland League football will be on the menu at Montrose next season.
It is a scenario Hegarty admits every official, player and supporter is dreading. He said: “We’re looking forward to the games, but it would be wrong to say we’re enjoying it. Football is enjoyable when you are top of the league and competing for trophies. This is the stuff of nightmares for Montrose as we don’t want to be playing in the Highland League next season.
“There are a lot of good sides in the division and it would not be a case of going in there and expecting to come straight back up to League 2 again. It is massively important this club stays in the SPFL and we will give everything to ensure we are.”
Defeating a Brora team which has lost just once in the last 68 league matches will be easier said than done. Hegarty has briefed his players about exactly what to expect at Dudgeon Park on Saturday.
He said: “We know we’re in for two hugely difficult games.
“Brora have a lot of good players, but more importantly they have great experience in the ranks too in players such as Grant Munro, Stuart Kettlewell and Steven Mackay. They are seasoned campaigners who have played at a higher level who know how to win games.
“Brora’s goals for column is outstanding and it tells me all I need to know about them. They score goals for fun home and away and I expect them to go for it in both matches. We have to be ready to do the same.
“We had a good month in April, but poor defending cost us the chance of ending the season with a positive result against Annan on Saturday. We were the team looking likely to win at 3-3 and we learned a painful lesson in getting caught trying to win the game and losing 4-3.
“We are at home for the second leg but I don’t believe it will give us any advantage at all. Look at European games today. It used to be a goalless draw away from home was a good result, but teams go away looking to score now and we have to show that mentality on Saturday at Brora.
“This tie will be decided in 180 minutes, maybe more if extra-time is required, and we have to be ready from the first minute to the last.”
The club which finished bottom of League 2 used to pay no penalty for a poor campaign but in this, the new era of play-offs, Montrose’s league standing is in jeopardy following a season which has brought just nine league wins out of 36 matches.
Hegarty, 60, is disappointed his players find themselves in this predicament but believes the introduction of promotion and relegation is a positive step for Scottish football.
He said: “I did a radio interview as a pundit at the start of the season and I said the pyramid system was a great idea for clubs in the Highland League and Lowland League to progress.
“There are too many clubs who have been happy to meander along in the lower leagues of Scottish football for too long and I haven’t changed my mind on that.
“We should be giving clubs the opportunity to improve and progress through the divisions to find their level regardless of whether that is higher or lower than League 2.
“I’m the Montrose manager now and people probably expect me to change my mind on the play-offs but I haven’t. It has been great for the game and I’ll still be saying that whatever the outcome of the next two matches.”