EK BOSS BAGS TALENTED TIWI
Kennedy: Daramola is a shrewd investment
Mick Kennedy insists East Kilbride have made a “shrewd investment” after signing striker Tiwi Daramola on a long-term deal from Kelty Hearts.
The 22-year-old joined Kilby last week and netted both of his new side’s goals in a 2-1 friendly win over Beith at the weekend, as he settled in well at K-Park.
Daramola signed for Kelty in the summer on a three-yearand-a-half year deal but cut that stay very short to drop into the Lowland League.
He is set to make his competitive debut in Saturday’s league clash at home to Stirling University after Tuesday’s Lowland League Cup clash at Broomhill was postponed.
Kennedy said: “We are delighted to get a deal done for Tiwi. He is only 22 so it is seen as a shrewd investment.
“I don’t think anybody doubts the lad’s talent and ability. I just think Kelty’s style and structure didn’t suit him so he wanted to get out and play games of football.
“There were a lot of discussions and, initially, it was going to be a loan but both parties came to an agreement that he could leave permanently, if he wished.
“We played Beith on Saturday in a friendly and Tiwi scored both goals so it is evident what he will add at the top end of the pitch.
“A lot of teams set up deep against us and try to play the low block, so we felt going into the second part of the season that we would need to add a different dynamic up top.
“We are still dominating games but we are maybe not creating as many opportunities because teams are sitting so deep, but Tiwi will give us something different.
“He will play some part against Stirling University at home on Saturday, but I’m sure he will feature regularly as the weeks progress.”
Daramola became Kilby’s 30th new signing of the season, sparking some criticism on social media which Kennedy publicly defended himself against online.
Asked about the perception that EK are “trying to buy the league”, Kennedy explained the high volume of players this term.
He said: “The reason the number of signings are so high is that we brought in 23 new players in over the summer as we had to build a completely new squad.
“In between, there have been quite a few injuries. Eight players have left and there have been some short-term signings like Chris McQueen.
“People forget we’ve had
EKAC had a joint-record seven athletes competing for Team West this year.
In the U15 boys’ race, Angus had three club mates backing him up in the race, with Ben Baillie, Rory Charters and Euan Thorpe, finishing 20th, 22nd and 31st, respectively.
This is the most the club has had selected for a single team at the Inter Districts.
Meanwhile, Matilda Frew finished a brilliant seventh in the U15 women’s race, helping Team West to a silver medal. She was the second counter for the team, one position better than last month’s third at the West Districts Championships.
Zoe Baillie finished 30th in the under-13 girls’ race, a great run with this being her first year in the age group.
Amy Andrew finished 30th in the under 17 women’s race, running a fantastic race to be the 10th counter for Team West, a big improvement on 15th at the West District Championships. For Amy, Euan, Rory and Zoe this was also the first time they had been selected for TeamWest.
The club also had athletes competing in the open British Cross Challenge Races.
Skye Christie finished 49th in the U15 girls’ race, Brain Heslop was 46th in the U15 boys’ race, while Dylan Edwards and Ciarian Muir finished 58th and 62nd, respectively, in the U17 race.
Sam Hosie finished 63rd in the mens’ senior race and 13th in U20, while Arthur Mulholland finished 105th senior and also third in the Vet 60 Category.