It’s the late show
Winner in injury time delivers Lang title
Paul McColl was the calmest man in the ground as he watched his captain net a 95thminute penalty to bag the league title for Cambuslang Rangers.
The Lang boss knew Thomas “Deco” Kilmartin would convert his spot-kick to send dozens of travelling Camby fans wild in the seven-goal thriller – a game he admits was a little too close for comfort.
The 31-year-old opened the scoring before sub Craig Hastings and John Gemmell gave Lang a 3-1 lead.
Neilston then staged a comeback to peg the game back to 3-3 before a John Gemmell strike was ruled out for a foul in the last minute of normal time. He was subsequently sent off for his protests.
But a handball led to a dramatic penalty kick which was expertly taken by Kilmartin to spark wild celebration.
McColl knew his skipper was the right man to take it and said: “It was a bombscare of a decision from the referee at the end not to give our goal and John’s taken exception to it. He could have cost us a season’s full of work but then he’s given the penalty and I knew Deco would score.
“I stood there with Gemmell, who was distraught, and he was saying, ‘I can’t watch, I can’t watch’. But I watched. I knew as he picked up the ball to take it that he’d score. And he did. The thing is if John had taken it he’d probably have smashed it in, but with Deco, he picks his spot and he’s hit it well.”
The Lang opened the scoring after only nine minutes when Kilmartin slotted home but were dealt a blow when Jordan Morton went off injured and was replaced by Craig Hastings.
The home side levelled on 22 minutes when Diack blasted past Iain Stewart, despite the Lang keeper getting a hand to the ball.
Neilston were not level for long though, as McColl’s men edged in front on the half-hour mark. A superb surging run from sub Hastings took him past the Neilston defence and into the penalty area. The keeper blocked his first attempt but the striker blasted the rebound in from eight yards.
The visitors stretched their lead four minutes after the restart when they were awarded a penalty after Hal Bohme was fouled in the box. John Gemmell stepped up to ram the ball into the net from the spot.
But if McColl’s men thought the game was over, that was far from the case as Neilston mounted a comeback within four minutes. The first came as The Lang failed numerous times to clear their lines and a deep cross to the far post was met by the unmarked Curren who stooped to head home from all of three yards.
The equaliser was once again poor defensively from the visitors and Curran rifled his second into the bottom corner after 57 minutes.
As Cambuslang surged forward in an attempt to find a winner, Neilston hit back and looked the more likely to score in the latter stages.
A late rally saw Kris Gebbie’s header wonderfully saved by the keeper on 84 minutes before Gemmell’s effort went just wide.
In the last minute of normal time Cambuslang had the ball in the net and the fans were going crazy, only for the ref to rule it out for a foul.
Gemmell was so incensed he vented his frustration at the man in the middle and received a second booking and then the obligatory red card.
As he trudged off the field Lang’s hopes of winning the title looked to have gone with him but there was to be one final twist in this pulsating match.
As Lang pressed forward deep into stoppage time, a hopeful ball into the box was clearly handled by the Neilston defender. Kilmartin coolly fired the resultant penalty-kick into the net to the joy of a healthy away support in the stands.