YM win inspired by amazing generosity Strips lost in fire are replaced by local businesses
East Kilbride YM...2 Eaglesham ............ 1
Paul Thomson East Kilbride YM lost several strips in a launderette fire in The Village last month, but a host of generous businesses have chipped in to provide them with new kit.
And the club wasted little time in christening the strips as both their Caledonian League and Greater Glasgow sides celebrated wins on Saturday.
YM were one of a number of clubs affected by the blaze that ripped through The Village Laundrette on January 29, devastating the familyrun premises.
However, upon hearing the club’s plight several local companies contacted the club and gave very generous donations towards the replacements.
Document Data Group, SST Sensing, Howdens, and LetMe Repair supported the Caley and GGPL side, while McKinnon’s Autos & Tyres donated to YM’s over-35s squad.
Caley manager Graeme Robertson, who guided his side to a last-gasp 2-1 win over Eaglesham at the weekend, told the News: “It costs over £700 for a set of strips and we managed to buy three, so the club are extremely grateful for the help at this time.
“We can’t believe the generosity of these local companies who are keen to help our club.
“The strips had their first outing on Saturday and all our teams in action won their games, so that was a great start.
“The Over 35s didn’t play on Friday night because their game was called off due to the snow, but hopefully they get to use theirs for the first time soon.”
Wearing their new gear, Robertson’s side bounced back from last week’s loss to Milngavie to inflict a first league defeat of the season on Eaglesham and move up to second in Division 1B.
YM had started the derby well but Eaglesham took the lead in their first attack when full back Lappin whipped in a superb corner kick, which was headed into the net by centre forward Morrison.
Stung by this reverse, YM pushed forward creating chances but the visitors held firm until the 20th minute when they were undone.
James Cameron was making tracks towards the Eaglesham area when he spotted Mikey Carroll sprinting along the right wing. His accurate pass found Carroll whose cross into the area was met by the ever-alert Craig Tocher to grab a deserved equaliser.
Despite having most of the ball in the remainder of the first half YM were unable to breach the Eaglesham rearguard with Craig Fry’s 20-yard shot rattling the crossbar as the sides went in level at the break.
In the second half, Eaglesham saw a powerful shot canon back off the crossbar, while at the other end YM spurned a couple of decent chances.
The late breakthrough came in the 88th minute and once again good running off the ball brought about the winner.
Full-back Craig Kincaid raced past behind the defenders to latch on to Scott Cairns’ astute pass before slotting the ball past the keeper for an important three points for YM.
Robertson added: “It was a great win for us.
“Scoring right at the end like that to win was fantastic and it puts us in a good position in the league.”
This Saturday YM face a home fixture against Callandar Thistle at Hamilton Palace, aiming to close the three-point gap from league leaders Cambria.
Meanwhile, Connor McCann hit a hat-trick as the GGPL side maintained their promotion push with an empathic 5-0 victory over Baillieston. Anthony Penman’s strike and an own goal completed the scoring.
P W Cambria 10 6 EAST KILBRIDE YM 10 5 Rothesay Brandane 9 5 Milngavie Wndrs 8 5 Stenhousemuir AFC 8 5 Eaglesham 7 4 Woodhall Thistle 11 4 Callander Thistle 11 3 Rhu Amateurs 10 1 Bearsden * 12 2 D L 3 1 3 2 1 3 0 3 0 3 2 1 2 5 1 7 1 8 3 7 GD PT 26 21 13 18 0 16 2 15 1 15 17 14 -11 14 -15 10 -24 4 -9 3