Wishaw’s step-up bid takes a blow
Successive defeats for Derek Holmes’side
Wishaw ................ 2 Forth .................... 3
Wishaw’s plan to concentrate on their Central First Division promotion bid took a dent when they lost 3-2 at home to Forth on Saturday.
And on Monday night they lost 6-1 to second-top Benburb, with Vinnie Mcguire grabbing their goal.
That left Wishaw 12 games behind leaders Rossvale and as they bite into that backlog they have home games against Lesmahagow on Saturday, Shotts on Monday and Blantyre Vics on Wednesday.
On Saturday they got off to a poor start as Forth snatched two goals inside seven minutes.
Ryan Connelly hit a shot from the edge of the box in the fourth minute, then Warren Grenfell cashed in on a gap in the defence to burst through and set up Kris Jarvie for a tap-in.
Wishaw rallied, and in 12 minutes Paul Mcgeough pulled a goal back with a powerful 20-yard drive, and in 28 minutes Mcguire cashed in on a Michael Collander pass to slot home the equaliser.
Mcguire and James Coffey went close, but Wishaw were reduced to 10 men when Kevin Barry Grant was red-carded just before half-time.
Forth then cashed in on slack play to net what proved to be the winner as Barry Mcgeechan hit the target.
Wishaw boss Derek Holmes said: “I thought we started poorly, then we got ourselves back into the game and score two good goals, but we came out in the second half, just didn’t seem to get going, and lost a soft third goal.”
Forth assistant Jim Dick said: “It was a good, difficult game. They were recovering for a good cup run and have lots of games to catch up on, but I thought we put in hard work rather than quality, just to get the points.”
Wishaw have been drawn away to Pollok in the Central League Cup third round.
Blantyre Vics beat Lesmahagow 3-0 in a Central First Division game last Wednesday, but then lost 3-1 at Neilston on Saturday.
Jake Hughes, Sam Mackenzie and Declan Brown were on target in midweek, with Alan Murdoch scoring an equaliser at Neilston to make it 1-1 at half-time.
Manager John Gibson said: “That was our first defeat in eight games.”
On Monday, Vics won 1-0 at East Kilbride, Sam Mackenzie scoring off a Ross Caldwell pass.
Thorniewood beat Forth 3-2 in a West of Scotland Cup first round tie last Wednesday, but then lost 2-0 at Shettleston on Saturday.
Forth beat Thorniewood 3-0 in Monday’s league game, with Barry Mcgeechan, Ryan Connelly and Warren Grenfell scoring.
Shotts Bon Accord lost 5-1 at home to St. Roch’s on Monday.