Glens bag vital win to escape the drop
Result gives Rutherglen breathing space in league
Peter Ferguson The morale of the Glencairn squad and supporters were given a huge boost as the team earned a thoroughly convincing win away to Yoker Athletic.
Although they are still in the relegation zone, the result lifted the Glens up one place in the league table and they are now only five points behind fifth place, with half of the league season still to be played.
The Glens were boosted defensively as Andy Neil was available after a threematch suspension, which took three months to serve, and Ryan Docherty also returned after a bout of illness. The pair replaced Graeme Brown who missed out with injury, and Kenny Hadden whose loan period with the club has now expired.
It took just four minutes for the deadlock to be broken as Mark Duffy pounced on a slip by the home defence, and he showed good pace and composure before firing a left foot shot past Campbell to make it 1-0.
McNab was causing concerns on the right wing for the Yoker back line, and his cross almost picked out Duffy in the 19th minute, but Campbell smothered the ball well at the striker’s feet.
The same two players combined again in the 23rd minute and this time to better effect as Glencairn doubled their lead. McNab won possession in his own half and then fired an incisive pass through the centre of the defence to Mark Duffy who picked his spot in the net, his fourth goal in three matches.
The travelling support were only too aware that their team had held a twogoal lead at this point last week against Cumbernauld United but had ultimately failed to win the game, so nobody on the terracing was taking anything for granted at this stage.
Just as it seemed the half-time whistle was coming, the repeat script theme continued as Yoker scored a goal just before the break. Mark McManus fired in a mis-hit right footed cross, and the ball scuffed off the shin of defender David Dunnachie and flashed past Hutchison at his near post to make it 2-1.
But after the break in the 65th minute, the Glens fans breathed a sigh of relief. A ball over the top down the right saw McNab threaten once more and, after turning inside his marker, he lifted a cross right onto the head of Mark Batchelor who nodded the ball decisively past Campbell to make it 3-1.
Any lingering doubts were removed in the 74th minute as Glencairn increased the lead to 4-1. A lovely passing move ended with Duffy slipping the ball through to Mark Batchelor, whose initial shot was well saved by Campbell, but the midfielder followed up to score on the rebound.
Glencairn manager Willie Harvey was delighted at the result,
He said: “It’s a welcome win, but it’s only one win.
“We need a few more of them to get us up the table, but the middle of the table is coming back towards us and we still have half a season to play. We were good today, everybody played their part, and we had some good individual performances out there, but it’s all about the squad.
“The spirit in the changing is much better than it was a few weeks ago, and we’re keen to keep that going.”
The Glens host Kilsyth Rangers at the Celsius Stadium on Saturday, 2pm.
We need a few more wins to get us
up the table