Celtic kid at the double for EK in Scottish Cup
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EAST KILBRIDE ..................................... 3 GRETNA 2008 ....................................... 1 PAUL THOMSON AT K-PARK
Celtic loanee Kieran McGrath fired East Kilbride into the third round of the Scottish Cup with a deadly double against Gretna 2008.
The 18-year-old produced two fine finishes after Ruari Paton’s opener had been cancelled out by Gretna’s Ryan Rogers.
McGrath rifled home from distance in the first half to regain the lead for Kilby and clinched the victory 10 minutes from time with a towering header to send Gretna, managed by former Kilby winger Chris Humphrey, packing.
Kilby gaffer Stuart Malcolm said: “I’m absolutely delighted.
“Kieran takes a massive pat on the back for the two goals and Ruari again got on the scoresheet.
“But people like Woodsy and the four midfielders really, their movement created those opportunities.
“I’m happy with the team performance and the way we played.
“Kieran is scoring goals and we’ll look at him again for next week.
“We wanted to go with two strikers the last couple of weeks and that’s what we’ve done. They’ve both scored goals and I’m delighted for them.
“We should defend their goal better. We’ve got to have a look at that. But with respect to the rest of the game, everything else we stood up to resiliently.”
Kilby took the lead in five minutes when Paul Woods’ miscued strike in the box fell perfectly for Paton to slot into the bottom corner.
Twelve minutes later Gretna, who have yet to pick up a win in the league this season, pulled themselves level. Kilby left Rogers unmarked at the back post and although George Stanger got across to block his initial effort, the Gretna striker followed up to bury the rebound past a helpless Matt McGinley.
The visitors were on level terms for just four minutes as McGrath fired Kilby back in front with a stunning strike. He collected the ball in the middle of the park and carried the ball some 20 yards before rifling a low strike into the bottom corner.
Ten minutes from time Kilby sealed their place in round three when substitute Sean Winter crossed for McGrath to head the ball back across goal and into the bottom corner.
Gretna gaffer Humphrey said: “I think we’ve let in some sloppy goals, but one of them is a worldie.
“We’ve not tried enough to stop the goals.
“We are all gutted because I think that’s the best we’ve played all season, but East Kilbride took their chances very well and deserved their win.
“Once we got to grips with how they played, we came alive and we were getting a lot of joy.
“We didn’t take enough of our chances.”
EK now travel to either Formartine United or fellow Lowland League side