READY FOR A TITLE FIGHT
EK ace Winter set for toughest test yet
Sean Winter admits he’s ready to fight all the way to hold on to East Kilbride’s Lowland League title.
The defending champions begin their trophy defence tonight against Dalbeattie Star, kicking off a few days later than the rest of the league after their involvement in the Betfred Cup.
Big rivals Kelty Hearts have already set the tone with an 8-0 win at home to Dalbeattie at the weekend, with Barry Ferguson’s side showing Kilby they mean business this term.
BSC Glasgow, East Stirlingshire, Spartans and new boys Bonnyrigg Rose look capable of mounting a serious challenge as well and ahead of Kilby’s opener, winger Winter said: “This is going to be the closest season since the pyramid system came in.
“The top teams are really strong and really going for it, so I can see there being a big gap between the top teams and the rest of the league.
“Kelty have brought in a lot of players and you can tell they’ve gelled really quickly with Saturday’s result.
“The games between us this season are going to be massive.
“The times we’ve won the league we’ve had to win 23 or 24 games out of 30/28, so it shows there’s little margin for error.
“The gap at the top will be nothing like last season. It’s going to be so close and you’ll have four or five teams fighting us for the title.”
Kilby scored just one goal in four Betfred Cup games – in a 1-0 win over Edinburgh City – and won preseason games against Penicuik and Stenhousemuir by the same scoreline.
Summer striking recruits Ross Kavanagh and Ruari Paton have yet to get going and while Winter admits goals have been hard to come by, he dismissed any notion that EK may be a bit lightweight up front compared to their league rivals.
He said: “I think we are looking very strong this season and, especially in the draw with St Mirren, we have showed that.
“I know the chances have been few and far between, but I don’t think you can really judge us until we’ve played more teams at our level. I think Ruari and Craig Malcolm will be the strongest forward pairing in the league.
“I’ve been very impressed with what I’ve seen from Ruari so far and in training.
“Malky has been missing for a bit due to his wedding and picking up an injury, but he’s on the way back now.
“I get the feeling the goals will really start coming once we play teams at our level. We might be taking a bit more of a risk because Ruari, Danny and Ross Kavanagh are lesser known than some of the players Kelty have signed, but I’d say there’s plenty of goals in this team.”
EK start with games against two of last season’s bottom three, with a trip to Vale of Leithen on Saturday to come.
However, Winter is taking nothing for granted and says Kilby won’t be going out of their way to emulate Kelty.
He said:“At the start of the season it’s all about getting off to a good start, so I’ll take a 1-0. Dalbeattie has never been a comfortable place to go for us. We’ve never gone down there and turned them over. It’s a tight venue and I’d be happy just to take the win.
“I’d love to go down there and get a big win like Kelty had over them, but it’s all about the result and starting well.
“Vale of Leithen is the same. It’s not an easy place to go. On paper we should win both games comfortably, but both games are away from home.”