Red Star close in on promotion

SHARE Argyll-sponsored Red Star travelled to Easterhouse last Saturday to play fellow title hopefuls Easthall Star in a tricky league match.

The narrow grass pitch at Stepford was heavy and bumpy, however, Star used their pace up front and in wide areas to their advantage early on.

Star had a good chance to open the scoring early on when Kieran Moore broke down the left, before cutting inside. But his effort sailed over the bar with the youngster citing a bobble as he went to shoot.

Ben Forbes was next to go close for Star as he connected with a driven Kieran Moore corner, but his headed effort went just over the bar.

The visitors took the lead 20 minutes in when Ben Forbes’s through ball put the Easthall defender under pressure. The centre back was short with his header which allowed Kieran Moore to beat the keeper to the ball and lob it over him into an empty net.

Easthall showed quality going forward in spells in the first half, however, the Star backline, marshalled by Luke Naisby, were in fine form as they looked to keep the lead intact.

The second goal for Star arrived with just over half an hour on the clock. Forbes delivered a through ball which found Rab Docherty in the box. Docherty’s initial effort was saved but he showed good composure to react to the loose ball and finish to give Star a 0-2 lead.

Easthall threatened to get back into the match just before half-time when a rare lapse allowed the forward in on goal. He struck the effort well enough but Luke Kalache tipped the effort onto the crossbar and Star were pleased to go in 0-2 ahead.

The second half saw the Lochgilphead side come out and try to finish the match off early and they could have done so when Ian McGuinness found himself in on goal, only to find the side netting from a difficult angle.

Star’s job was made easier when Easthall were reduced to 10 men with half an hour to play when their midfielder was ordered off for dissent towards the referee.

Star rounded off the scoring soon after when a Ben Forbes throw-in was flicked on by Cammy McDonald to Colin Weir who scored a rare header to put Star 0-3 ahead with 20 minutes remaining.

The visitors played the remaining time out comfortably, with Lee MacLean and Aaron Moore picking passes through the midfield, and if it wasn’t for some wasteful finishing Star could have won by more.

This was a big result as Star look to secure promotion to Premier 1 by securing this season’s Premier 2 title.