The Rolly squeeze into semi-finals
EAST KILBRIDE ............................. 4 UNIVERSITY OF STIRLING ......... 2
Paul Thomson
East Kilbride boss Mick Kennedy hailed hat-trick hero John Robertson after a sensational solo strike lit up Saturday’s success over Stirling Uni.
The Students took a shock lead at K-Park after just six minutes but Kilby roared back to win and maintain their 10-point lead at the top of the table.
Robertson’s treble before the final goal of the game from strike partner Robert Thomson late on, earned high praise from Kennedy, but it was the former St Johnstone man’s first goal - a silky solo run from the halfway line and composed finish - that had the whole of K-Park talking.
And Kennedy said: “That’s what Robbo does. He has this unbelievable ability to drop his shoulder or take you a different way. He is exceptional at it.
“We are very aware of his skills and we are delighted to get him to the club.
“It was an exceptional goal and, to be honest, I wasn’t surprised when he did that because I know
EKRR progressed to the semi-final of the Greater Glasgow Presidents League Cup after defeating Carluke Thistle 1-0 away on Saturday.
The game started well with The Rolly piling on the early pressure, creating chance after chance, with little coming back in reply.
The Carluke keeper managed to keep The Rolly at bay with save after save and it seemed it would only be a matter of time before the Rolly took the lead, but the teams went in level at the break.
Determined to put the game to bed, he has that quality in him.
“He has got a low centre of gravity and strong upper body strength as well.
“That chop inside onto his right foot, he does it loads of times in training and his feet are so good.
“He has brought a bit of freshness into the team.
“I was speaking to my dad about him the other day and we were saying he is your stereotypical street footballer.
“He has this huge love for the game, he is so unpredictable and he’s been great since he came in.”
Robertson said on his arrival at K-Park at the turn of the year that he was aiming for 20-25 goals this season and having now hit four in two starts, Kennedy reckons that isn’t too ambitious a target.
He added: “Robbo is definitely capable of hitting those figures. If he doesn’t hit 20 I don’t think he will be far off it.
“Every opportunity he has had, he has scored. He’s had four opportunities and scored four goals.
“His numbers will end up pretty high, I’m sure.
“We’ve brought him in to help us get promotion, so fingers crossed.”
The Rolly came out for the second half with all guns blazing, and their effort was rewarded 15 minutes after the restart.
A fantastic cross into the box from James Banks was met by Matt Cole, who headed home to grab the only goal of the game.
Assistant boss Gary Hay said:“Carluke were good opponents, but in the end, we were able to get the goal that saw us through.
“We had some great performances across the team, especially from our keeper Nick Martin and man of the
On the overall performance, Kennedy said: “Stirling are a really good young side.
“We had most of the possession, 17 shots at goal and they had six, so we thoroughly deserved to win the game.
“I’ve said before we were looking for a big threat through the central part of the pitch.
“That’s why we brought John and Robert in and the two of them have done exactly what I expected them to do.
“They are League One quality strikers so I always expected them to contribute and both of them were excellent on Saturday.”
Meanwhile, EK have parted company with fitness and conditioning coaches Craig Bryson and Chris McClymont.
Kennedy said: “Things just didn’t work out the way we thought it would. Chris and Craig have their business down in Ayrshire so it is a lot of travelling and I don’t think either them or us were getting the best out of things.
“Their gym has really taken off, and possibly a bit more than they anticipated, so we all had a conversation and the decision was it would be best to part ways.
“It’s disappointing to lose them.” match Marc Brown. I was also impressed with Evan Duffy making his debut for the club, he was strong and will certainly be a great addition to our team.”
Rolly vice-captain Ryan McParland added:“I think we could have easily scored a few more had it not been for the Carluke goalkeeper.
“It was great to see Matt Cole getting back to form after a long injury and, of course, it’s always great to welcome new players like Evan to the club.”
The Rolly are away to GSC Jordanhill in the league on Saturday. Kick-off is 2pm.