Stark takes heart from plucky show
Kilby match Celtic for long spells
East Kilbride boss Billy Stark was pleased to see his side give a good account of themselves against a Celtic XI on Saturday.
The Lowland League champions held their own against a talented young Hoops side.
New Celtic signing Kundai Benyu — who joined from Ipswich last week — scored on his first outing in a green and white jersey as he helped see off a spirited Kilby.
Strikes from Mark Hill and Benyu put the visitors in control and although Kieran Gibbons scored with a stunning strike to get EK back into the game, Thomas Caffrey’s late solo effort sealed the win.
But Stark was impressed by how well his charges coped against strong opposition.
He told the News: “The really encouraging thing was the way we stuck at it, came back from the two goals to play some good football and create a few chances.
“Their goalkeeper has had two or three really good saves to keep us out.
“Celtic are full-time, they’ve been back a couple of weeks and beat Alloa’s first team 5-4 last week, so we did well.
“They have a lot of quality. There’s the boy Benyu they brought up from Ipswich and then there’s Mark Hill, Aidan Nesbitt and Joe Thomson, who have all been on loan at Championship clubs and done well, so there’s no doubt about what we were up against.
“We got what we expected from Celtic and it was a good exercise in terms of our discipline.
“Overall, I’m really pleased with the workout and we gave a good account of ourselves.”
Celtic fielded a number of familiar faces with Calvin Miller, Jack Aitchison and Nesbitt among the first 11.
But it took 18 minutes for the visitors to threaten the Kilby defence. Nesbitt’s cross to the back post picked out Benyu but the unmarked midfielder narrowly failed to connect.
Midway through the first half Kilby keeper Jacob Kean had to be at his best to deny Nesbitt the opener, palming away his point-blank header Class at the back post. Early in the second half Kilby’s resilience was eventually broken as Celtic struck twice in two minutes.
In 49 minutes Kilby went to sleep and Mark Hill fired the ball past Kean from 20 yards.
From the re-start Kilby created a good chance with Martin McBride’s strike bringing a save out of Ross Doohan in the Hoops goal.
But Celtic broke straight upfield and when the ball found Benyu, he turned
his marker on the 18-yard line before lashing the ball past Kean.
In 63 minutes Kilby went close when trialist Ross Caldwell had a shot cleared off the line.
But two minutes later EK did find the net – and in some style. Gibbons collected the ball 25 yards out and curled the ball home to get the hosts back in the game.
However, any hopes EK had of snatching a draw were extinguished in 74 minutes when Celtic sub Caffrey weaved past three players and found the bottom corner with a low drive.
Stark added: “In the first half Celtic only had one chance. We’d worked so hard and then when we came out after half-time, that wee period of getting going again, and we’ve been hit with two quality finishes.
“Jacob didn’t have a chance at the goals, the ball was right in the bottom corner, that’s the quality they’ve got.”
Kilby now look forward to hosting Hamilton Accies on Saturday in the Betfred Cup. Kick-off at K-Park is 2pm.