MIND THE GAP
Burgh inch closer towards top of League Two after victory over Maybole
JOHNSTONE BURGH.............................2
MAYBOLE.................................................0 Johnstone Burgh closed the gap at the top of the League Two table with a comfortable win over Maybole.
With leaders Vale of Leven slipping up at Thorniewood, Burgh closed the gap to two points thanks to a brace from William Lennox.
Manager Jamie McKim paid tribute to his players after his threadbare squad kept their cool at Keanie Park.
He said: “We started nine bodies down so it was difficult to set up the team.
“They set up 4-5-1 looking to frustrate us and in the first half we were going long when we really should have been more patient and tried to play through them.
“I couldn’t be happier with the boys. A few of them were getting their first starts of the season and they all gelled terrifically.
“They kept the standard really high and the organisation was brilliant. I want us to build on clean sheets and that’s two in a row now and hopefully we can continue that run on.”
The hosts took the lead after just eight minutes. From a Maybole throw-in Burgh pressed high and capitalised on a slack defensive pass, with Lennox racing in to grab his first goal of the game.
With few clear cut chances, the hosts took until the 50th minute to double their lead. Paul McCallum drove through the heart of midfield to set up Lennox, who again kept his composure to drive past the visitor’s goalkeeper.
Lennox almost had a hat-trick with ten minutes to go, after he rounded the keeper and looked set to score. He went down
under pressure from the keeper, with the referee waving away the home side’s protests for a spot-kick.
McKim added: “Two weeks in a row now the refereeing standard has been awful.
“When Lennox went down for the penalty it was a stone-waller. It was such a blatant decision but the ref just ran away.
“I don’t want to criticise referees but the last two we’ve had, the standard’s just been shocking.”
Burgh switch their attention to the Scottish Cup this Saturday, taking on Armadale Thistle, before a top- ofthe-table clash with Vale of Leven the following weekend.