Burke sets up a super six for Kilmarnock
CHRIS BURKE is kicking himself that he does not have an assists clause in his contract after remarkably setting up all six of Kilmarnock’s goals in a masterclass at Rugby Park.
The veteran winger was on incredible form as his precise set-pieces were finished by Stuart Findlay twice, Alex Bruce, new signing Nicke Kabamba, youngster Connor Johnson and he also teed up Greg Kiltie.
And he did not even win the man-of-the-match award. That went to returning centre-back Findlay.
Burke said: ‘Unfortunately, I don’t have an assist bonus but if anyone wants to be my agent then they’re welcome.
‘I said to Stuart I don’t know who was voting for man of the match But Stuart deserves it — he was excellent. There were a lot of good performances out there.
‘Scoring six goals is excellent — okay five of them were set-plays but you still have to create chances to score goals and we did that.’
The Burke show began in nine minutes when Bruce headed home his free-kick and the second in 26 minutes was a carbon copy, this time Findlay steering the ball home.
Findlay, back after nearly three months out with hamstring trouble, scored again just before half-time, heading home Burke’s corner.
Queen’s were already dead and buried but Burke continued his one-man destruction mission in the second half.
He laid the ball off for Kiltie to score in 63 minutes then came up with two clever corners late on.
A whipped ball to the near post in 84 minutes was finished by debut boy Kabamba ,then Connor Johnson took full advantage of a driven flag-kick in injury time, easily sweeping home from 12 yards.
It was a great way for Alex Dyer to celebrate his first win in full-time charge.
He said: ‘We know what we’ve been through over the last month or so. It was important that we won the game. It was important that we scored some goals.
‘There were a lot of positives — six assists from Burkey, getting Stuart back and a debut goal from Nicke. so all round it was a great day for us.’
Queen’s Park boss Ray McKinnon added: ‘I’m extremely disappointed. We lost three goals from identical areas of the pitch, which was harsh because we’d done all right.’