Red Star close in on first title in 31 years

SAFL Premier 2

Carlton YMCA 0

Lochgilphead Red Star 7

RED STAR are one win away from their first league title since 1987 after an emphatic win away at Carlton YMCA on Saturday May 5.

In the opening exchanges, Star struggled to get their passing game going and Carlton were up for the battle as they tried to force the visitors into some early errors.

Star opened the scoring after 20 minutes when Aaron Moore beat the keeper with a header from outside the box after he met Kyle Selfridge’s excellent delivery.

Kieran Moore doubled Star’s lead soon after when he beat two defenders before unleashing an excellent strike past the outstretched keeper into the roof of the net.

The visitors were looking dangerous every time they went forward and it was Kieran Moore with another excellent individual effort to put Star 3-0 up. This time he used his pace to break away from the defence before delivering a tidy finish into the bottom corner. Gregor Peacock continued his recent goalscoring form when he netted Star’s fourth of the afternoon before half-time, after another nice passing move.

In the second half, the pace of Rab Docherty and Gregor Peacock caused the defence problems, resulting in some late tackles from the battling home side who were beginning to tire.

Kieran Moore completed his hat-trick with an hour on the clock as he latched onto a Lee MacLean through pass before beating the defender down the left channel and finishing into the bottom corner. The Star management team was keen to give their bench as much game time as possible and rang the changes with Martin Bonar and Innes Meikle both making their returns from suspension. Meikle was delighted to get on the scoresheet as he converted from close range, despite the home side’s appeal for offside.

The scoring was rounded off late on when Connor Crawford’s cross was turned in by Kieran Moore for his fourth of the afternoon and Star’s seventh.

At the other end, it was a relatively quiet afternoon for keeper Kalache but the Star defence had to be on their guard to maintain the clean sheet late on.

Red Star have no game tomorrow, Saturday May 12, but Kyle Selfridge, Aaron Moore, Lee MacLean and Kieran Moore will be representing the club in an Argyll Select who will play an SAFL Select for the Joe Paterson Trophy.

The match kicks off at 1pm and, if the Tarbert pitch is unplayable, the match will be switched to the 3G pitch at Lochgilphead Joint Campus.