Old hands called in as’Frew struggle to field team
Frantic phone round helps home team secure a win
Craig Ritchie
Injury-ravaged Renfrew moved joint top of the league as their sparkling form continued with a win on Saturday.
Weddings, work, suspensions and injuries saw the management team of Colin Clark and Martin Ferry with a headache on their hands come Friday night.
A ring around the houses eventually saw them have enough players to field a team, with Anton Heffron doing his old side a turn by coming out of retirement to pull on the boots as a favour, while the injured Alain Kinney agreed to take a spot on the bench despite having been out for 12 months. Things were so bad that boss Clark even had to pull on the ‘Frew kit just so they had enough players on the bench.
But there appears to be no stopping Renfrew at the moment as the bandwagon keeps on rolling, thanks to goals from Jamie Docherty and Kieran Healy.
Clark admits it wasn’t the prettiest of performances from his side – but with hardly any players available, he was in no mood to complain.
He told Express Sport: “I’ll take that result every day of the week when you consider the lengths we had to go to even field a side.
“We were really down to the bare bones, there is no other way to put it. On Friday you are wondering if you are going to have enough bodies.
“We had to put to call in to Anton, and credit to the big guy that he agreed.
“The thing is, he was only meant to be on the bench but more call-offs meant he actually played the full match.
“We were really poor in the first half but Kello just couldn’t score. And in that rare Renfrew phenomenon we actually got a bit of luck.
“We got away with a murder a bit — but this time last year we had nothing going our way whatsoever. So we will enjoy it while it lasts.”
Newly promoted Kello looked to take advantage of Renfrew’s woes in the opening exchanges but for all their dominance they were unable to make it count.
Renfrew keeper Danny McLeay had to be on his toes to keep the scores level as the two sides went in at the break with the deadlock yet to be broken.
A slice of luck then went Renfrew’s way as they were awarded what appeared to be a soft penalty. And the confidence appears to be running through Docherty, as the ‘Frew striker continued his scoring form as he converted from the spot.
Lee Davison was then introduced for Lee Cochrane, making his debut in a ‘Frew shirt.
And things appeared to be turning in Renfrew’s way when Kello were then reduced to 10 men following a rash challenge.
When your luck is in, then your luck is in and Kieran Healy sealed the victory with a deflected free-kick to ensure the hosts continued their 100 per cent start to the Super League First Division.
Clark added: “Credit to the boys that played, they were made to dig deep and they managed to fight back in the second half.”
Renfrew: McLeay, Barbour, Miller, Healy, Heffron, O’Keefe, McGuinness, Cochrane, Jones, Docherty, Quinn.
Subs: Kinney, Davison, Benton, Clark and Burgess.