Star pipped in penalty shoot-out after holding champs to 0-0 draw
RED Star played host to reigning Premier Division champions, East Kilbride FC Amateurs (EK) and, despite exiting the competition, are delighted with how they acquitted themselves on the day.
The match on Saturday February 4 was played at the Lochgilphead High School 3G in windy conditions but, despite the weather, both sides looked to get the ball on the ground as much as possible.
The hosts looked to start the match on the front foot and were able to force a succession of free kicks and corners, with Luke Naisby causing the EK defence some concern with his aerial ability.
At the other end, East Kilbride showed their quality with some slick passing moves into their forwards. But they found the Star backline of Andy Weir, Luke Naisby, Kyle Selfridge and Connor Crawford difficult to break down.
The Red Star wide men, Ciaran McPhie and Kieran Moore, were causing EK some problems with their direct running and both youngsters went close. First of all, McPhie saw an effort turned wide by the goalkeeper before Moore had an attempt come back off the post.
Into the second half, Star continued to try to put their premier opponents under pressure and continued to do so without creating as many clear-cut chances as they had in the first half. Manager Dougie Moore also used the second half to give his entire squad a run out and, despite a host of changes, Star continued to try to push for a winner.
The latter stages of the match saw the visitors show more of an attacking threat as they also looked to avoid a penalty shoot-out and, although they forced a number of corners, they found Kalache to be in solid form in the Star goal and the match ended 0-0.
Unfortunately for Star, the lottery of the penalties went the way of EK, who ran out 3-1 winners. Connor Crawford and Kyle Selfridge saw their efforts saved, before Ciaran McPhie converted his. When Andy Moore’s kick was also saved by the keeper, it gave the EK forward the chance to seal the tie and he did so by sending Kalache the wrong way. Despite losing the tie, Star can take heart from this performance and will look to turn their cup displays into a sustained run of league victories – starting tomorrow when they travel to play Port Glasgow OBU.