McPhie to the four in Star victory

FOR THE first time in several years, Red Star welcomed Carlton to Lochgilphead last Saturday and got themselves back on track after the previous weekend’s disappointment at Broomhill.

With a big squad to choose from, manager Moore altered the system to a 3-5-2 formation, with John Kennedy returning to the side to partner fellow defenders Ali Provan and Kyle Selfridge.

It was no surprise when the home side took the lead after 10 minutes.

Youngster Ciaran McPhie picked the ball up on the left flank before cutting inside past two Carlton defenders to place the ball into the bottom corner.

The hosts continued to press as the first half progressed, playing nice football, but once again were guilty of passing up excellent chances.

Star could have been made to rue their missed chances before the break as Carlton went close on a couple of rare attacks.

The hosts started the second half as they had the first and added to their tally early on. It came from a nice passing move which started at the back and made its way through the midfield to Kieran Moore, who played a through pass into Ciaran McPhie who slotted the ball past the Carlton keeper to double his and Star’s tally at 2-0.

It was another through pass which sent Rab Docherty clear into the box after an hour, but his surging run was brought to a halt by the despairing lunge of the keeper resulting in a penalty kick and a yellow card for the goalkeeper.

Unfortunately this also ended Docherty’s afternoon as the Star top scorer was forced off with a dislocated shoulder.

In Docherty’s absence it was young McPhie who stepped up and despite the keeper getting a foot to the ball, he was unable to keep the kick out and Star went 3-0 up as McPhie secured his hat trick.

To their credit Carlton, who had won their previous two league games, didn’t give up and capitalised on a rare mistake from the Star defence to make the score 3-1. The glimmer was soon extinguished, though, as Star once again established a three-goal lead straight from kick-off when McPhie netted his fourth goal of the game.

The hosts were perhaps guilty of stepping off the gas towards the end of the match and were punished as Carlton scored from a free kick late on to make the final score 4-2.

Tomorrow, Saturday, Red Star take on Cambria at home in the fifth round of the West of Scotland Cup in what will be another tough cup tie.

A place in the last 16 beckons for the winners.

The match kicks off at 1.30pm and will either be played at the Ropework or the Joint Campus 3G.