Costly defeat for Red Star
RED Star travelled to Greenock on Saturday (January 7) to play Broomhill Amateurs at Battery Park and were made to rue a poor first half display as they fell to defeat.
The match was played in testing conditions which suited the physical nature of Broomhill but it was Star who looked most likely to score early on.
The visitors spurned several chances to go ahead, the best of which fell to Neil Russell.
After some neat build up play he managed to take the ball past the keeper however with only the covering defender on the line and looking odds on to score, the ball took a nasty bobble and the ball cannoned back off the crossbar.
Rab Docherty also went close to opening the scoring when his effort beat the advancing keeper, however, the ball stopped dead on the goal line and the Broomhill defender was able to clear the danger.
Star thought they had opened the scoring on the half hour when Ciaran McPhie’s effort was saved by the keeper, the ball fell to Josh Coates who finished but the referee had blown for offside.
In what was already a frustrating first half for the visitors, turned into a disaster when Broomhill scored twice before the break.
The opener came when Ali Provan got caught under a long ball and the centre half’s clearance fell to the Broomhill forward who managed to find his strike partner in acres of space to finish, leaving Kalache with no chance.
The lead was doubled before half time when once again a slip out wide allowed the Broomhill forward to show his pace, before bursting into the penalty area and firing past Kalache in goals to give Star a mountain to climb at half time 2-0 down.
Following the break, manager Dougie Moore replaced Ben Forbes with Stuart MacLean.
Star were given a lifeline after 55 minutes when Rab Docherty was fouled in the box. The striker stepped up to take the spot kick himself and sent the keeper the wrong way to make the score 2-1.
As Broomhill began to tire, Red Star took control in midfield with Lee MacLean and Kieran Moore finding more space to pick out passes and create chances.
It seemed like a matter of time before the equaliser would arrive as Star created several chances.
Neil Russell went close again as he connected with a Josh Coates cross however the ball deflected off a defender and back off the inside of the post which just about summed up Star’s day.
As the Lochgilphead side pushed for a winner they left themselves open at the back late on and the Broomhill number nine was able to seal the points with a delicate chip over Kalache to round off a disappointing start to 2017 for Red Star.
Red Star are back in action tomorrow as they play host to Carlton YM in the league, where they will be desperate to get back to winning ways.
The match is at 2pm and is scheduled for the Ropework, however it may be moved to the High School 3G pitch, weather permitting.