Please ref, don’t send off their man
Willie feared the worst after red
Glencairn boss Willie Harvey admitted he was gutted to see an opposition players red carded in Saturday’s 3- 1 win over Maybole - because Glens are usually so poor against 10 men.
Willie had last week bemoaned his team’s tendency to go into their shell when up against opposition who had seen their numbers reduced.
And that curse looked like continuing when, with Glens already 1-0 up, Mark Doolan saw red for blocking a goalbound shot with his arm. But Ross McNeil saw his spot-kick saved and Maybole equalised soon after.
However, Glens didn’t buckle and two late goals from McNeil and Thomas Kilmartin sealed a good win.
Willie said: “The big thing was I didn’t want the ref to send their boy off!
“I said last week it seems to affect us negatively rather than positively.
“It really could have hurt us, we missed the penalty and then they went up the park and scored.
“We could have fallen apart but we played well after that and controlled the rest of the game, and in the end I thought we thoroughly deserved our victory.
“Without being too negative, it still wasn’t a great performance, especially in the first half when I think we got caught up in a tug of war, with nothing really happening. Everything was bogged down. But in the second half we played a lot better.”
The win moved Glens to fourth in the league and with no scheduled game for the next two weeks, Willie was able to take stock on the season so far.
He admitted it’s not been a perfect start, but Glens are in a decent position while the manager has refused to give up hope of catching Pollok who are 11 points ahead of them. Willis said: “If there was a report card, I’d say ‘could and should have been better’.
“Games against Cumbernauld, Irvine and Thorniewood, that’s eight points dropped that we shouldn’t have dropped. That would have us right up there. We set our target of being in the top three or five by Christmas and we are.
“Last season Beith looked like they would run away with things but Troon won the league. It only takes a couple of injuries and a few bad results.”
Glens welcomed a former under- 21 player back to New Southcroft when left- back Jonathan Boal returned from the Wishaw.
However, one player on his way out appears to be striker Steven McClung who asked for a transfer after twice being substituted in the cup ties with Culter.
Willie said: “We actually tried to get Johnnie back at the start of the season. He’s a cracking players and a really good addition to the squad. Steven was substituted against Culter and that seemed to annoy him. We have four other strikers who are more than good enough to play in any division.”