Burnside pegged back but hold on
Third win in a row for McIsaac’s men
Cambuslang’s Newton Academical remain top of the Greater Glasgow Premier AFL’s Saturday Division Three after winning 4-0 against title challengers Glentyan Thistle.
Glentyan had won the previous fixture 3-2 in a tightly contested affair.
Saturday afternoon’s game kicked off in the sunshine and it was Accies who quickly got to grips with the match.
Burnside United secured their third win in a row in Division 2C with a 4-3 victory over strugglers St Mirrenoff.
Following last week’s washout, Burnside were eager to get back on the pitch and continue their march up the table.
United started strongly with Ian Henry causing mayhem down the left side.
His low cross was too hot for the goalkeeper to handle and that allowed Alan Bruce to poke home.
Soon, Burnside doubled their lead after a long punt upfield was flicked on by Paul Hilston and met by the onrushing Andy Boyce, who drilled the ball into the net.
The visitors were soon in dream land as Boyce ran through again to round the keeper and make it 3-0.
But the goal seemed to awaken St Mirrenoff as they started to take the game to Burnside.
United goalkeeper Rab Duncan pulled off several wonder saves to keep his clean sheet intact before half-time.
St Mirrenoff fought their way back into the match and grabbed a goal thanks to a header that was flicked on and the ball looped into the net.
The comeback was well and truly on when a strike deflected off Stevie Smith to nestle in the net.
But Burnside settled the game when Dev Gray managed to bundle the ball home via
The first goal came after 15 minutes when a deep free-kick was floated long by Andy Kellock and, with the keeper hesitating, Kevin McFarlane was able to nip in and chip it over the keeper.
This goal seemed to make Glentyan more nervous and they struggled to keep possession. When their captain picked the ball up in his own half and wanted far too much time, Nad Zeb was able to use his body well and steal it away from him and shoot into the bottom left corner for 2-0.
Glentyan then made a change with some lucky deflections to restore United’s two- goal cushion.
Ian Henry was adjudged to have handled in the box and the Saints scored their third from the resulting penalty.
After the game Burnside coach, Jamie McIsaac said: “It was great to grab another win today, it was very pleasing to see the way we started the game. We need to make sure we don’t get complacent in future, we need to be a bit more ruthless.”
In the other games in Division 2C, Cambuslang Football Academy lost 5-2 to only 30 minutes played in an attempt to stay tight and not concede but again Zeb was causing problems. With a nice piece of skill inside the penalty box he passed to Martin Jones who fired the ball into the net.
Darren Hampson then got in on the act with a great strike from outside the box to complete the scoring before half-time.
Manager Sean Donaghy then introduced Darren Mowat for Paul McCabe who had worked tirelessly in the central midfield by breaking up PFD Amateurs and Strathclyde defeated league leaders Rutherglen Rovers 4-1.
Strathclyde started the better team and took the lead through Barry Kimmett before Skivington levelled on 32 minutes.
The visitors took the lead once again with a nice finish from Mark McGhee to send them in 2-1 at half-time.
McGhee and Greig Twaddle scored after the break to put the tie beyond Rovers.
Meanwhile, Fernhill United won 5-2 against L&N Academy to keep their promotion chances alive in Division One. the play.
Glentyan did come close with some long-range efforts but didn’t trouble Andy McGladrigan in goal. With 20 minutes remaining Kevin Coyle and Brian Mullen replaced Darren Hampson and Richy Wimpenny respectively to freshen things up.
In the end it was a comfortable victory for Accies who now have 12 massive games remaining in the league. Next week they travel to Eaglesham in round two of the Bobby Thomson Challenge Cup.
They started brightly and went 1-0 up after five minutes through Paul Reynolds’ header.
After conceding the equaliser, the striker scored again to make it 2-1.
A wonder-strike from James Donnelly with his left foot from 30 yards secured the third while an own- goal meant United led 4-1 at the interval.
They soon regained control after L&N scored another and Donnelly managed to beat three defenders before rolling the ball into the empty net to seal the win.
United manager David Ramsay said: “It was a good solid performance from us today on a horrible frozen grass park. It’s a vital three points that keeps us in the chase for promotion to the premier league. We also had four trialists today that look like great additions to the squad.”
In other results around the Sunday Central AFL, Castlemilk Dynamo won 5-0 at The Hub in the Premier.
Kings Park drew 4 - 4 against Sauchie and Castlemilk United eased past Lanarkshire Forrest with a 3-1 win.