Missed chances see ‘Frew toppled by United
Ten- man Renfrew failed to curb the Cumbernauld tide in an end- to- end encounter at Guy’s Meadow.
Colin Clark and Martin Ferry’s men had plenty of chances to sneak victory at the home of their Super League First Division rivals, but it proved to be a frustrating afternoon for the New Western Park side.
Victory handed new Cumbernauld manager Andy Frame a win on his home debut, as he took charge for only the third time.
His homecoming got off to a stunning start as the hosts took the lead inside the opening two minutes.
A Jamie Watson cross into the box caught out the Renfrew backline, and there was the veteran David Dickson lurking at the back post to fire home the opener.
Scott Morton had an opportunity to restore parity within five minutes, but a blocking tackle from Cumbernauld skipper Ryan Sullivan was enough to put him off at the vital moment.
Dylan McGuigan, Tony Stevenson and Paddy McCabe were all chancing their luck for the hosts as they looked to extended their advantage – and they were eventually rewarded in 25th minutes as they made it 2-0. Stevenson, formerly of Hamilton Accies, hammered towards goal but the Renfrew defence managed to get in the way of his strike.
The ball broke to United centre back Billy Robb, and he applied the finish beyond a stranded Dale Burgess.
The goal appeared to have ignited ‘Frew and Morton came within inches of pulling the score back to 2-1.
The striker headed towards goal but could only watch on as his effort rattled back off of the crossbar.
The hosts continued to control the match but managed to hand Renfrew a route back into the game on the stroke of half-time.
And it was a moment of magic from striker Morton as he fired a 20-yard effort beyond David Buchanan to hand Renfrew a lifeline ahead of the second half.
But on the hour mark the hosts were awarded a penalty in an apparent moment of madness from the referee.
Martin Brogan was penalised for a push inside the box, but it was the straight red card that he was shown which aggrieved the Renfrew bench and support.
Watson scored from the resulting spot kick, but Renfrew weren’t for giving up.
A late header from Morton gave them hope but Cumbernauld saw out the remaining five minutes with relative ease.