Kelty lay down a marker
Kelty Hearts stormed to the top of the Lowland League after a thumping 8-0 win over Dalbeattie Star on the opening day.
Defending champions East Kilbride and Berwick Rangers, who were relegated from League Two last season, were not in league action due to their involvement in the Betfred Cup and their rivals made strong starts to the campaign.
In a goal-crazy first weekend, Barry Ferguson’s Kelty set the tone with their emphatic win.
The Fifers have really strengthened over the summer, with the most notable additions striker Nathan Austin from Inverness and attacker Dylan Easton from Forfar, and both were on the scoresheet at New Central Park.
Austin bagged a hat-trick, while Easton grabbed a solitary goal in between a Stephen Husband double and strikes from Scott Linton and Roby Mutch.
Kilby face the same side to kick-off their campaign and it will be interesting to see how they respond to the statement Barry Ferguson’s side have made.
Meanwhile, newly promoted Bonnyrigg Rose found their shooting boots as well with a 6-0 thrashing of Vale of Leithen.
Caledonian Braves – formerly Edusport until a fan-backed name change during the close season – also hit their opponents for six. Edinburgh University couldn’t handle them and ex-EK striker Ross McNeil grabbed a double in the win following his summer move to the Braves.
The big clash of the week saw last season’s runners-up BSC Glasgow host big spending East Stirlingshire and they couldn’t be separated at the Indodrill in a 1-1 draw. Tom Orr equalised from the spot for BSC in the second half after Jordan Tapping had given Shire the lead after 25 minutes.
Elsewhere, Cumbernauld Colts beat Gala 3-0, Chris Humphrey’s Gretna lost 3-0 to CS Strollers and Spartans clash with Stirling Uni was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.
There’s a midweek card in the Lowland League and some games were taking place as the News went to press.
Tonight Kilby travel to Dalbeattie’s Islecroft Stadium, kick-off 7.45pm, and on Saturday they make the trip to Vale of Leithen, kick-off 3pm at Victoria Park.