MATCH STATS
East Kilbride: Kean 5, McLaren 5, Coll 5, Proctor 4, Howie 5, Gibbons 5 (McLeish 87, 1), Winter 6, McCann 5 (Ferris 55, 3), Caldwell 5 (Coogans 55, 3), McBride 5, Strachan 6. Scorers: Winter 67, McMullin 68 (og) Subs not used: Russell, Hughes, McNeil. Albion Rovers: Bowman 6, Reid 6 (Hopkins 61, 4), McLaughlin 6, Lightbody 6, Perry 6, Holmes 6, Fisher 7, Davidson 6, Victoria 6, Higgins 5 (Shields 43, 8),Trouten 7 (McMullin 58, 3). Scorers: Trouten 2, Fisher 5, Shields 47, 54, 72 Subs not used: Guthrie, McManus. Ref: Steven Reid 6/10 HT: 0-2. Att: 261 Sean Winter hopes East Kilbride can turn their Betfred Cup experience into a positive for their forthcoming league campaign.
Their heavy 5-2 defeat to Albion Rovers on Saturday was a shock to the system for the Lowland champions, who prided themselves on their defensive qualities last season, losing just 14 goals in 30 matches.
They have failed to progress through the group but take heart from last week’s 0-0 draw and subsequent penalty shootout win over Queen of the South.
Lower-level opposition awaits this weekend as they host Dalbeattie Star in the first game of their Lowland League title defence and Winter hopes the lessons learned in the Betfred Cup will stand them in good stead.
The Kilby midfielder said: “Hopefully, when we are playing teams at our level now we can enjoy the benefits of these games, rather than thinking too much about some of the defeats.
“It’s been a great experience for the younger boys, playing against professional sides for the first time.
“Defensively, the Rovers game wasn’t like us at all. The start we made to both halves killed us and there was some uncharacteristic errors, so I hope that was just a one-off.
“The defence hasn’t changed from last season where we hardly conceded in the league. I thought Howie was unbelievable against Hamilton and, although he made a mistake on Saturday, (David) Proctor is still very experienced and he’s strong enough to bounce back from that.
“Our defending was probably our strongest attribute and if you look at the games against Hamilton and, especially, Queen of the South we’ve done really well against teams who are a lot fitter than us.
“I’m confident it will be a lot more comfortable for us when we play games at our level.”
Winter scored in the matches against Hamilton and Albion Rovers and still found some encouragement in Saturday’s display.
He added: “Although it was a bad result, that’s the best we’ve played going forward in these Betfred Cup games.
“We were right up against it in the other games and defending for most of the game, but on Saturday we created a lot of chances against Rovers and maybe could have had more than the two goals.”