JUNIORS
THERE was plenty to celebrate for Rutherglen Glencairn as they notched a fourth straight Championship win on Saturday with a 3-2 victory over Cumbernauld United.
And there is atemptation to say the impressive stats are being matched by performances because the evidence of their Guy’s Meadow display set one thinking that rarely have Willie Harvey’s men looked more capable of attaining his long-held dream of leading the Glens back to the top flight of Junior football.
His prolific little and large combination of strike duo Jay McKay and Gary Smith continues to catch the eye but the most striking aspect of this Glens side is in midfield where the craft and graft of experienced pair Tony Fraser and Ryan McArdle perfectly complements their more attack-minded partners Dale Simeon and Del Esplin, whose forward runs were touched upon by disappointed United boss Andy Frame in his post-match summations.
He said: “We always felt Glencairn’s midfield runners would present us with a problem so we asked players to do a specific job in that area however the fact Simeon and Esplin have both scored goals tells its own story.
“It didn’t help us that after starting the better of the two teams, Connor Stevenson has come off early after going over on the ankle that was troubling him going into the game and we never recovered from that blow but we can have no real complaints because Glencairn edged things and probably deserved their win.
“That said, there wasn’t a lot to choose between the teams but missing chances at 1-0 and the referee then denying us a stonewall penalty for one of the most blatant hand-balls ever has cost us dearly.
“You can see why Willie’s team are being tipped for promotion this season but if my players continue to play at the same level as today then I’ve no doubt we will be in the mix as well.”
Seven minutes had come and gone when Cumbernauld opened the scoring after a woefully short pass-back from Glens full-back Kris Gebbie led to goalkeeper Gary Whyte making a save at the feet of United frontman Scott Davidson however the rebound landed at the feet of Scott McManus whose controlled lob shot found the net with Whyte stranded yards from his line.
The visitors poured forward looking to level matters and Kenny Giles saved superbly from Simeon before excelling with a full-stretch save onto his own crossbar to keep out a Smith effort that had the big striker holding his head in frustration.
Shortly afterwards the busy McKay sent a shot against the upright but all Glencairn’s pressure came to nothing and half-time was reached with the home side’s 1-0 lead intact.
The second period again saw the Glens on the ascendancy however United almost doubled their advantage when Davidson