No.1 FOR JUNIORS Harvey rues McKay injury as Rangers rule derby day LANG DAYFOR AGLENS GAFFER...
Rutherglen Glencairn manager Willie Harvey suffered a knock-out blow after striker Jay McKay pulled up injured during their warm-up ahead of the match against derby rivals Cambuslang Rangers.
Long-serving boss Harvey put a brave face on it despite his selection plans taking a blow in the build-up to the Somervell Park clash as his other regular front man Gary Smith and midfield dynamo Sean McGuire were unavailable.
Adversity has often been the catalyst for getting up from the canvas but it was not to be on this occasion as the home teamran out 2-1 winners against opponents who dominated possesion but packed no punch.
Harvey said afterwards: “Possession doesn’t win you games unless there’s an end product and we just didn’t have that today.
“It will sound as if I’m making excuses but having to go without two of our main goalscorers hit us hard particularly the loss of McKay because his movement and willingness to run at defenders would have caused problems for Cambuslang’s centre-backs.
“They are a big physical pairing and not the quickest across the ground yet they strolled through the game as we played too many final balls down their throats and made it easy for them to dominate.
“That said I still believe we could and should have taken all three points as Jack Baker has not had a single save of note to make in the entire 90 minutes and him picking the ball out of his net is down to two glaring defensive mistakes on our part.
“I’ve had my say in the dressing room and if lessons are learned then we won’t be pointless for long.”
The game’s opening goal ar- rived on 23 minutes after Craig McGregor’s attempted clearance saw him connect with speedy Lang forward Calum McRobbie and there were no arguments over the spot kick award which McRobbie despatched beyond Baker.
This slender lead was doubled just before the hour mark after what looked a clear foul on Ryan McCardle went unpunished and his Glens team mates committed the schoolboy error of not playing to the whistle as the loose ball found its way to Cambuslang forward Jordan Love who pulled a pass back into the path of midfielder Jordan Morton who coolly sidefooted home a low shot.
Love came close to adding a third after heading wide at the back post before the visitors set up an exciting finale by pulling a goal back when a sustained bit of pressure led to a header across goal from Del McNab that found fellow substitute Njabulo Nldovu and he turned the b ball home from close range.
Harvey urging his troops to go for broke in the remaining ten minutes led to some anxious moments in the Cambuslang Rangers rearguard which were addressed by Lang gaffer Paul M McColl afterwards.
He said: “We should never have been hanging on and wishing for the final whistle at the d death.
“The guys were comfortable a at 2-0 but the Glens scoring with ten to go has led to panic stations that on another day m might have been costly.
“Today was a terrific result a and it feels fabulous to be sit- ting with full points from our opening three league games but there are improvements needing to be made if we are to build on our good start.”
Cambuslang’s latest three points puts them in a three-way tie for the Super First Division’s top spot along with Petershill, who eased to a 4-0 victory over Irvine Meadow , and shock troops Renfrew who recorded a 2-0 triumph at home to Kello Rovers.
Darvel dropped off the pace after losing 5-4 away to Cumbernauld United and up into fourth place are Troon following a 4-1 defeat of Largs Thistle.
Close season signing Jonny McStay bagged a hat trick as newly promoted Larkhall Thistle racked up their first Super First Division points of the season with a 3-2 Gasworks Park comeback success against Kilsyth Rangers.
And a share of the spoils ensued as early season strugglers Maryhill and Shettleston played out a 0-0 stalemate at Lochburn Park.
In the top flight, Beith lead the standings after a 2-1 triumph over Clydebank while Rob Roy are up into second spot following their recovery from 0-2 down at home to Kilbirnie Ladeside to win 5-2.
Elsewhere, Pollok beat Kilwinning Rangers 2-1 and first points of the season were also stacked up by Hurlford United in overcoming Arthurlie 4-1 at Blair Park.