LARKHALL FEEL THE HOME HURT
Larkhall Thistle made a disappointing home debut in the Super First Division when they lost to Cambuslang Rangers, the team they pipped for the Central First Division title last season.
Rangers looked a far sharper, more confident looking side in the first half, and deserved their half-time lead.
Dale Simone struck first when he steered home a Paul Hewitt pass on 17 minutes, with Kris Gebbie heading in the second five minutes later.
Stewart Thomson was a dominant figure for Jags, especially in a bleak first half, displaying confident timely handling and constantly leaping into the air to minimise the Gers’ aerial threat.
Thistle — with some players unavailable — struggled but, after a halftime rollicking, upped their game after the break when efforts from Jon Mcstay, Graham Gracie, Davie Reid and Matty Clark came close to target.
Mark Mckeever was handling touchline duties in the absence of manager Duncan Sinclair, who was attending his daughter’s wedding, where his assistant Tom Mclaughlin was also best man.
Mckeever said: “The first half was disappointing. The boys know they could have done better. In this league, we’re going to get punished for the mistakes we make.
“But we’ll take the positive out of the second-half display, dust ourselves down and get ready for next week.
“Captain Mark Canning has been nursing a back injury and couldn’t train last week, so he had to sit out much of the game on the bench, but added a wee bit quality when he came for the final quarter.”
Thistle now head for Kilsyth Rangers on Saturday, hoping to clinch their first league point.