EK FOUR WINS FROM TITLE
Boss Kennedy has Kilby closer to league glory
East Kilbride are just four wins away from lifting the Lowland League title after taking maximum points from their two matches in the past week.
But boss Mick Kennedy admits wrapping up the league early could be a double-edged sword.
Kilby produced two dramatic victories over the last week, coming from 2-0 with 10 minutes to go to defeat title rivals Tranent 3-2 and then seeing off bottom side Edinburgh Uni in a 7-4 thriller on Saturday.
It puts them 15 points clear at the top of the table with eight games to go and they can clinch the title towards the end of March if they keep winning, but success could come quicker depending on other results.
However, the league winners would then face a lengthy wait for the pyramid play-offs for promotion to League Two, which don’t start until the last week in April, so Kennedy admits sealing the trophy quickly could have a downside.
He said: “If we win our next four games, we win the league but we know things can change quickly.
“Tranent lost to Hearts on Saturday and Cumbernauld Colts drew so that has cut it down. We go to Hearts on Friday and if we don’t win that then it can change again. But we will just need to keep winning our games and put pressure on other teams to win.
“That’s what we’ve done consistently over the season and we’ll just keep ticking the games off and see where we land.
“If that means somewhere along the line that we win the league, great. I don’t have any preference on how quickly we win it, I just want to make sure we keep playing consistently if we are going to be going into the play-offs in April.
“It can be a double-edged sword because you want to be league champions as soon as you can, but the problem is you then have four or five meaningless games in the league, while Buckie and Brechin in the Highland League will probably go down to the wire.
“It is about keeping everyone focused and tuned in.”
Kilby now travel to a Hearts B side on Friday night who defeated Tranent 1-0 last week and also beat EK 4-2 at K-Park in their previous meeting this season
So Kennedy is taking nothing for granted. He said: “I thought Hearts would have struggled at Tranent last week, but they managed to dig out a result out, so that shows it will be a difficult game for us on Friday night.
“We need to be on it.”