We must tighten up to stay at top

Greig laments loss of late goal against Lanark

Lanark ...............3 Gartcairn ...........3

Mark Pirie Davie Greig has called for his Gartcairn players to tighten up defensively after an injury-time equaliser in Lanark cost them top spot.

Cairn slipped to second in the league after they were held by their Lanarkshire rivals, with a Ryan Donnelly double and Kevin Ross header cancelled out by a stoppage-time strike.

Boss Greig believes that a point was fair on both teams but wants to see improvements in defence if they are to mount a title challenge.

“We’re disappointed that we scored three goals away from home and couldn’t hold on but won’t be concentrating on the doom and gloom,” he said.

“We were too slack at the back, and, if you’re as open as we were, you’re going to be punished.

“We saw that time and time again on Saturday.

“It was a competitive 90 minutes. and both teams were filled with desire.

“The boys heads could have gone down after they were pegged back a couple of times but they kept going.”

Cairn took the lead from an early penalty, after the Lanark man handled the ball in the area.

In- form striker Donnelly stepped up to calmly put the ball in the corner of the net after eight minutes.

The home side levelled the game after converting a penalty, following Cairn centre-back Jake Morris’s rash foul in the area.

There were plenty of chances for both sides, before Lanark took the lead in 72 minutes.

However, Donnelly dragged his side back into the game as he sprung the offside trap and slotted the ball home for his fifth goal in three games.

Captain Ross, who was returning from injury off the bench, put the visitors back in front in 84 minutes from a well-worked setpiece.

With the win in sight, the Moor Park men battled back again in stoppage time.

This weekend Gartcairn welcome Bellshill, and Greig believes that the game could mark a turning point in their season, as they look to hold on to their spot in the promotion fight.

“We know that we are difficult to beat,” said the Cairn gaffer.

“Bellshill are another team are heavily fancied for promotion, so it’s a huge game.

“If we win, yes we’re in a good position, but if we lose we’re back in with the chasing pack.

“We want to pull away from the teams below us. It’s such a tight division though.”

Photo by David Rankin Goal machine Ryan Donnelly has been in red-hot form since signing for Gartcairn