KARLEIGH EXIT SPUR FOR KILLIE
YOUR player has just gone down in the centre of the field following a nasty head knock. It is natural for a hush to fall, a sense of concern to spread across the ground.
Not when you are dealing with the kind of relationship rapidly developing between Karleigh Osborne and Kilmarnock supporters.
Osborne was prostrate after crashing into Ryan Dow just before the half-hour, being treated by medical staff, when the first, primal scream from the Main Stand pierced the silence. ‘Don’t soldier on,’ screamed a home fan.
‘Get him aff, Clark,’ came another voice. ‘Make a sub.’ It carried on like this for a while.
Lee Clark, the manager, took the hint. Osborne, already on a booking for handball, should have been sent off by referee Barry Cook for the challenge on Dow and was replaced by Iain Wilson three minutes later, with Gary Dicker dropping into defence. The punters cheered loudly as he sloped off.
To suggest Osborne and the Rugby Park faithful have got off on the wrong foot is rather like stating there are one or two minor points of contention between Donald Trump and the Mexican Government.
Handed a two-year contract after leaving Plymouth, the centre-back marked his debut by conceding the last-minute penalty which allowed Hamilton to knock Killie out of the Scottish Cup. Describing his time on the field in this affair as eventful would be another understatement. If last week seemed like rock bottom, this proved otherwise.
What makes matters worse for the big defender is that his removal from the play proved to be the turning point in a remarkable game.
Floundering at 2-1 down, Killie, aware of how lucky they were to have 11 men instead of 10, rallied in Osborne’s absence and produced a great fightback topped off by a winner from Sean Longstaff with just 25 seconds remaining.
It bookended a remarkable encounter very tidily considering his side had opened the scoring with the fastest goal in SPFL Premiership history just ten seconds in.
Dicker headed the ball through, following an attempted clearance by Paul Quinn, and Kris Boyd let it bounce before dinking it over the advancing Scott Fox.
Before long, though, Osborne had allowed Alex Schalk to race through, although his shot was saved. On eight minutes, he was having the finger pointed at him again.
Schalk took the ball from Dow on the left and Osborne looked lost as he squared for Christopher Routis to convert. The entire rearguard was all over the place three minutes later when the visitors snatched the lead.
From a corner, a bout of bagatelle broke out in front of goal that saw Liam Boyce send a header off the crossbar. Kenny van der Weg knocked it onto Schalk and he finished nicely from close range.
With Osborne moved out of harm’s way, though, Killie went to work.
Boyd took a swing at a Jordan Jones corner after the hour, the ball broke off him to Dicker and he took a touch before rifling home an emphatic low shot to spark the siege which ended in the late winner.
Jones laid the ball off to Longstaff on his right. The on-loan Newcastle midfielder swung back his right foot and the rest is history.
Visiting manager Jim McIntyre was sore that Osborne was not sent packing, saying: ‘It’s 100 per cent a booking but the referee has chosen not to send him off. His reason was he didn’t think it was aggressive.
‘My God, he nearly took the back of his (Dow’s) head off. Killie dodged a bullet. They know they did.’
Killie assistant Lee McCulloch admitted as much but preferred to focus on on-loan Celtic teenager Kristoffer Ajer.
‘I think the second half is the best we have played all season,’ he said. ‘Ajer was different class. If he keeps going the way he is now, I see no reason why he won’t go on to play for Celtic.’