Burgh’s Central hopes shattered
Gaffer gutted at poor performance in must-win game
Dean Robertson
Johnstone Burgh were knocked out of the Central Sectional League Cup on Saturday after a 3- 0 away defeat against Vale of Leven.
A Ritchie Stewart hat-trick secured victory for the hosts and made it mathematically impossible for Burgh to advance beyond the group stage.
Going into the weekend, Burgh needed to win their game and hope Renfrew failed to beat Greenock in order to keep their qualification hopes alive.
However, neither result went their way as Renfrew secured their passage into the next round following a resounding 5-0 win at New Western Park.
Johnstone Burgh co-manager Colin Smith says he’s disappointed to exit the tournament on the back of a poor first-half display.
He said: “I’m very disappointed after that result, we were really poor in the first half and conceded three sloppy goals.
“I thought we were the better team in the second half, however, the damage was already done after such a negative first half.”
“We knew it was a game we had to win, so to play the way we did in the first half and lose because of that is extremely disappointing.”
Vale of Leven wouldn’t have to wait long for their first goal as Ritchie Stewart headed home an Allan Macpherson corner after only eight minutes.
The home side doubled their advantage 16 minutes later, when Macpherson again set up Stewart who made it two goals from two attempts.
Burgh goalkeeper Ryan Mailey was then called into action to prevent Adam Monaghan, Benjamin Craig and Lee McGeachy from putting the game to bed.
However, Mailey wasn’t able to stop Stewart from completing his hat-trick and making in 3-0 with seven minutes still left in the first half.
Burgh started much better in the second half and immediately put the hosts under pressure with a succession of early chances.
Grant Kelly had the best of these chances as his well-struck free kick looked destined for the top corner, but the Vale keeper was able to turn the ball behind.
Burgh’s best chance to score came on the 86th minute when they were awarded a penalty kick for a foul on Grant Kelly.
Kelly elected to take the spot kick himself and fired his shot towards the bottom right-hand corner, however, he was once again denied by the home goalkeeper.
Burgh would continue to push forward until the final whistle, but they were unable to find the goal their second half performance deserved.
Next up for Johnstone Burgh is a home tie with Port Glasgow on Wednesday night in their final Central Sectional League Cup game.
While the game is meaningless in terms of the cup, Smith hopes his side can build some momentum ahead of Saturday’s league opener.
He said: “The game in midweek is a big one as we don’t want to be going into the first league game having lost our last two matches.
“We will be targeting a positive result on Wednesday night to set us up nicely ahead of the game against Ashfield.”