‘Frew plunge despite draw with Kirkie
Renfrew dropped to the foot of the Premiership despite holding Rob Roy to a draw at the weekend.
‘Frew currently enjoy a three-match unbeaten run in the league, however a win for Irvine Meadow on Saturday sees them prop up the league.
Colin Clark’s men continued their good form but had to rely upon keeper Dale Burgess to make a number of good saves.
A red card for Gregor Wylie also meant they had to produce a backs to the wall performance to ensure they came away with a point.
Craig Ritchie Johnstone Burgh boss Jamie McKim refused to slam his side – insisting they were simply beaten by the better team on Saturday.
League-leading Lanark United eased to the points at Keanie Park in a feisty encounter in Johnstone, which saw players from both sides seeing red.
Burgh vice captain Niall Herron was the guilty party for the hosts, however McKim insists the referee’s decision making left a lot to be desired.
McKim told Express Sport: “Saturday was tough but the scoreline doesn’t reflect the game.
“I had told the players during the week that I wanted to see more from them and I can’t fault them because they did just that.
“Ultimately, we gave away cheap goals – the first three were from individual mistakes – and we didn’t take our chances at the other end.
“You can’t do that against a side like Lanark because they have the players to punish you.
“At the end of the day, it continues our poor run of form and if we are to match the targets we have set then we really need to get back on track soon.
“It wasn’t to be on Saturday and it was a tough game.
“I didn’t get involved with the referee at the time because I can’t afford to be sent from the dugout.
“But Niall was sent off for reacting ‘aggressively’ to a bad challenge. He never raised his hands or anything, and if the referee had been able to keep control of the game then it would have never have got to that.
“We now miss him for the next two games which is a massive blow.”
A solid start from the visitors saw Josh Gracie firing home the opener after just 18 minutes.
However, Burgh looked dangerous and had a Kieron Magennis effort cleared from the line as they ramped up the pressure.
Lanark then fired home their second of the afternoon as Cammy Lawson produced a superb volley beyond James McLennan in the Burgh goal to make it 2-0 at the break.
A series of spurned opportunities at the start of the second half would come back to haunt Burgh as Grace extended the lead to 3-0 in 52 minutes.
And Lanark thought they had increased their lead further in the 58th minutes when Declan Lafferty had the ball in the back of the net only for the referee to pull play back for offside.
But straight from the restart Stuart Annetts placed a shot high into the top corner to seal the victory for the visitors.
McKim added: “It was a tough afternoon but we will learn from it.
“We were without both our goalkeepers so our coach Jamie McLennan had to go in goals, which we found out late on Friday.
“We had scrambled to try and get someone in but it wasn’t to be.
“We will have a look at what went wrong when we return to training this week and try to make things right ahead of our next game.”
Johnstone Burgh: McLennan, Herron, Brown, Wilson, Salisbury, Robson, McDonald, Blair, Burns, Agnew, Magennis.
Subs: Gemmell, Downie, McCallum, Fitzpatrick and Trialist.