Montrose versus Arbroath derbies are invariably action-packed and that was certainly the case here, with one goalkeeper scoring and the other getting sent off as he conceded a penalty.
When the dust settled it was the Arbroath fans in the healthy 1,143 crowd who were celebrating as their side maintained their eight point lead at the top of League Two.
The main talking point came on 78 minutes when Lichties keeper David Crawford thumped a free-kick forward from ten yards outside his own box and the ball bounced over Lucas Birnstingl. The ball was clearly moving in the wind as the keeper took the kick, but referee Craig Charleston gave a goal.
Arbroath manager Alan Moore said: “At half-time we should have been five up. I went mental at my strikers at the break as I was worried that they were not putting their chances away. David Crawford’s goal was crucial, but they were never going to beat us as we were always on top.
“I’m not being big headed, but we could have had seven or eight.”
Arbroath took the lead in 18 minutes when Bobby Linn crossed for Simon Murray to score.
On 32 minutes, McManus hit the Montrose post after rounding the keeper, while Birnstingl made a fine block to deny the same striker.
Arbroath made it 2-0 on 52 minutes when Dylan Carreiro found the net.
Five minutes later, Garry Wood scored from the spot to give Montrose some hope after Scott Johnston was tripped by Kevin Nicoll.
Birnstingl’s blunder gifted Crawford the first goal of his career and things went from bad to worse for the home keeper on 84 minutes when he brought down McManus and was red-carded.
With three substitutes used, Wood went in goal and McManus beat him from the spot. Two minutes into added time, McManus was totally unmarked as he completed the scoring.
Montrose boss George Shields said: “The 5-1 scoreline flattered them, but you can’t defend like we did and take anything from the game.”