Eightisgreatas Thistleboost promotionbid
East Kilbride Thistle fired eight goals past Knightswood to boost their bid for promotion from the West of
Scotland Fourth Division.
But boss Aaron Connolly insists he won’t get carried away after an 8-1 win moved them to within three points of second place.
Strikes were spread throughout the team on Saturday as Mark Steele, Campbell Tough, Adam Edgar, Ally MacDonald, Liam Scullion, Simon Millar, Michael Blues and an own goal did the damage against a side who went down to 10 men at 3-1.
Connolly said:“The boys were excellent, they were relentless.
“If we are going to be critical, we probably could have had a couple of more goals but I understand that it is difficult sometimes to keep going when you are that far ahead in a game.
“The main thing for the players was that they kept pushing.
“There’s seven individual scorers in there and an own goal so it was great for some players to get on the scoresheet.
“Simon Miller is probably the big one. He came back after five or six weeks out and has had to wait for his chance. He got himself a goal in Mitchell Rooney’s absence so I’m delighted for him. It was good to see Adam Edgar back on the scoresheet after a wee while as well.
“Knightswood will feel a bit hard done by. The red card they got at 3-1 in the game was a bit harsh and that altered the outcome of the game for them, but I thought we were pretty comfortable at that point and would go on and win it anyway.
“We still had to finish the job off and we did that with aplomb.”
The result has Thistle in sixth-place ahead of a huge clash against fifth-place St Peter’s this coming Saturday.
Asked if it was a real shot in the arm for their promotion hopes, Connolly added:“We don’t like to talk about things like that at the moment.
“We need to focus on the next game in hand, which is a big one with St Peter’s. We have got an opportunity to put ourselves in the mix and that is our focus for Saturday.
“I’m pleased with where we are. We’ve had availability issues all season but the boys have been strong and performed well.”
Meanwhile, Thistle have added winger Lewis Archer to the squad on a deal until the end of the season.
Connolly said:“Lewis was with us last season and he was a player we wanted to keep, but he got an offer from Lesmahagow and he’s been there for a while. It didn’t quite work out for him so we were more than happy to get him back in.”