Killie boss: We’ve been Dyer but my frontmen can fire us out of rotten rut
Alex Dyer reckons the combination of dynamic duo Eamonn Brophy and Nicke Kabamba can get Kilmarnock f lying again after they ended the club’s miserable top-flight run.
The Rugby Park marksmen hit the priceless goals as the Ayrshire side produced a thunderous fightback.
Brophy’s doubl e in three second-half minutes, his first goals since last November, cancelled out Iain Vigurs’ first- half opener and reinvigorated Killie’s campaign.
Kabamba was celebrating his 27th birthday and his third strike since signing from Hartlepool capped the comeback and handed Dyer a first win as gaffer. Killie had scored just twice in their previous eight league matches, but the pairing provided the much-needed cutting edge.
Dyer said: “It is great the two strikers scored, but that’s why they are here. I brought Nicke in to play alongside Eamonn as it helps him. When he plays well we are much better and he needed help up there.
“Nicke has come in and given him a bit of help so Eamonn can do his stuff, but he has been excellent since he walked through the door.” Killie deserved their triumph for a refusal to buckle after trailing at the break.
It was harsh on them. Brophy had a strike blocked by Nathan Baxter with full- back Richard Foster hammering the spinning loose rebound to safety and Rory Mckenzie had a couple of penalty shouts.
Chris Burke also had a couple of speculative tries from long range, but the sucker punch was coming.
Against the tide, County went into the lead after 25 minutes when Vigurs clipped a half-volley which curled away f rom keeper Laurentui Branescu before crashing into the net after Josh Mullin’s half-cleared cross.
A spark was required for Dyer and it came from his front pair.
Brophy was the catalyst with a spectacular equaliser nine minutes into the second-half.
Alan Power got the better of Vigurs and fed the hitman. The attacker still had lots to do, but stepped inside onto his right peg and fired a cracker from the edge of the box beyond Baxter’s right hand.
The leveller lit-up the hosts and also Brophy, who quickly rattled Baxter’s palms. County were rocking and then
reeling when referee Willie Collum adjudged defender Col Donaldson to have tumbled Burke in the box.
Brophy was the calmest man inside the stadium as he rolled the kick past Baxter. It was a stunning turnaround and Dario Del Fabro’s netbound header was touched against the crossbar and over by Baxter as Killie looked to seal it.
Kabamba was the one who did just that with seven minutes to go as he angled a precise header back across Baxter from Burke’s free-kick.
Returning sub Kirk Broadfoot got a mixed reception when appearing late on, but nothing was going to take the shine off Dyer’s day. The Killie gaffer added: “It was a good victory and one we deserved.
“I thought their goal came against the run of play and that was their first shot. We didn’t panic at half time and we just had a quick chat because they were doing well and creating chances.
“We could have had more goals, but I am happy with what we got and we showed good character.”
County have now won just two of their last 18 games and, although co-manager Stuart Kettlewell was irritated at Burke being offside before winning the penalty for the second Killie goal, he was more concerned with his team’s flop.
Kettlewell said: “The second-half performance was disappointing in a nutshell. We warned them about the pitfalls about coming out and being slack and not joined up.
“How we become so disjointed, it flashes a sign of a soft centre and a sign of us going under a wee bit which is frustrating.
“We concede a goal and it should make us come out fighting, but we felt we accepted our fate a little bit at 2-1. At their second goal, Chris Burke was clearly offside, which wi l l probably be swept under the carpet.
“He’s only two yards away from the linesman and we need the officials to get these things right, but we were the architects of our own downfall.”