Penalty award irks boss Kennedy in Kilby defeat
EAST KILBRIDE ....................................... 0
BO’NESS UNITED ................................... 2
East Kilbride boss Mick Kennedy was left stunned by a penalty award that cost his side in their defeat to Bo’ness United on Saturday.
The Lowland League championselect could have all but wrapped up the title with a victory, but went down to a shock 2-0 defeat at home to a side they comfortably dispatched 3-0 in the Lowland Cup quarter-finals the previous week.
Both of Bo’ness United’s goals came in the first half courtesy of Scott Dalziel and a Ryan Porteous penalty.
And while Kennedy had no complaints with the overall result, he was far from happy with the decision to penalise defender Joao Balde for a tackle which handed the visitors their spot-kick on the stroke of half-time.
He said: “Bo’ness deserved to win the game and, over the piece, they looked a lot more hungry than us.
“They probably didn’t want to be the team that we won the league against.
“Bo’ness were a bit more pragmatic than the last time we played them, going 3-5-2 this time, but the first goal came from us getting caught out and then we conceded a penalty which is never a penalty in a million years.
“Joao wins the ball clearly and the referee says he caught their player with his studs. If you look at it back, his feet are tucked in and his legs aren’t even extended, so I don’t get it.
“We just need to move on from that. “Outwith that, we had three or four really good chances and hit the woodwork a few times.
“Their goalkeeper pulled off one unbelievable save as well, so I felt we had enough chances in the game to get back in it, but we didn’t take them.”
The defeat leaves Kilby needing four points to wrap up the title, going into their final five games.
First up is Sunday’s trip to face Broomhill at Dumbarton Stadium and Kennedy says they can’t take anything for granted.
“Broomhill are so hard to predict,” he said. “A few weeks ago they beat Gala 7-2 and then they go and get beat by Hearts and drop points to Edinburgh University.
“They are a young inexperienced squad and what can come from that is a lack of consistency. But we also need to take the pitch into consideration. It is not in great condition as it is and Dumbarton are playing on it on the Saturday so that’s not ideal.”
Meanwhile, Kilby midfielder Jonny Lyon will go out on loan to West of Scotland League outfit Johnstone Burgh.