Cumbernauld shockkilbyto stoptherot

Cumbernauld Colts boss James Orr heaped praise on stand-in captain Sean Winter for inspiring the side to a shock win over East Kilbride.

The club’s regular skipper Stephen O’neill missed the game through non-covid related illness and ex-kilby man Winter was handed the armband against his former side.

The winger didn’t disappoint as he sparked a shock win for Colts, scoring from the penalty spot in the first half before Daniel Hatfield’s second half strike put the result beyond doubt.

It ended a run of nine games without victory for Colts and inflicted a third defeat in nine for title hopefuls East Kilbride, who finished the game with 10 men after Blair Malcolm’s late dismissal.

But after a spirited 1-0 defeat to Spartans in midweek, Orr reckoned the win was coming as he hailed Winter for his impact on the club since his summer arrival.

The Colts gaffer, who has a number of ex-ek men in his squad including Graeme Holmes, Dom Mclaren and coach David Proctor, said:“i asked Sean to come in this summer and help our young boys as well.

“I wasn’t sure if we were going to get him to be honest, but, to be fair to him, he jumped at the chance.

“From day one he’s been outstanding; he’s great in the dressing room; he works so hard for the team; he’s a humble guy.

“We made him captain and I asked him to show everything he’s been doing in the dressing room on the park, and I thought he did a great job.

“If anybody was going to step up and put that penalty away, it was Sean.

“His effort and workrate throughout the game was outstanding.

“They were guys coming back to a place that they love and if it gave them an extra wee jag for the game, then great

“But I think whoever it was today, we’d have got the same performance. “I’m really proud of them.”

Goal hero Winter said:“we needed something to change our season and hopefully this is the thing that does that.

“The damage is done in terms of competing at the top of the league, but we can kick on and try and challenge for a couple of cups, finish as high up in the league as we can.”