Shaw thing: Killie notch vital win, but do it the hard way
KILMARNOCK 2 Taylor (42), Shaw (81) QUEEN OF THE SOUTH 1 Roy (66)
Killie manager Derek Mcinnes appealed to his team to make life easier for themselves after they needed a late Oli Shaw winner to take three points from Queen of the South.
Having dominated the first period the Rugby Park side only had Ash Taylor’s fine curling goal to show for the manner in which they imposed themselves on the game.
Queens keeper Joshua Rae repelled much of what Killie had to offer in the first 45 with the stopper denying Kyle Lafferty, Shaw and Fraser Murray.
And Queen of the South almost made them pay for the missed chances after Alistair Roy equalised in the second period.
Chris Burke, introduced to the fray just minutes before, cut a perfect ball back for Shaw to bullet into the back of the net, much to the relief of those inside Rugby Park.
“I think every win at this stage of the season is going to be vitally important but we probably made it more dramatic that we needed it to be,” said Mcinnes.
“Thankfully we found a way to win and I thought we were totally dominant in the first half.
“I was really pleased with how we controlled the game, not so pleased with how we gave up too many opportunities for ourselves.
“Once the goal did come I thought it was a reflection on our superiority.
“We spoke at half-time about going out and making sure that we had enough experience in the team to go
and set about the second half and get that second goal.
“Again, we were guilty of not making the most of good opportunities to get the second goal.
“While it’s 1-0 you are always going to give oxygen to them every time you miss a chance.
“They get a goal on a counter-attack from our set play which is really disappointing.
“For 10 minutes we lost composure after that and we need to have the wherewithal to manage the game and have the confidence and personality to go and set about the game again.
Thankfully it didn’t come back to bite us because we had enough time to still get the winning goal.”
The win keeps Kilmarnock’s noses just in front of Arbroath, who eked out a 1-0 win over Ayr United to stay just two points behind Mcinnes’ side at the top.
Despite the spirited nature of the second period, Queen of the South are joint-bottom of the table with Dunfermline, having played a game more than the Pars.
They have now lost their last three games.
And player-manager Willie Gibson
has warned that next week’s game against Hamilton is bigger than the SPFL Trust Trophy final next month.
“We need a reaction on Saturday because that is massive for us,” said Gibson. “It is bigger than the cup final.
“I would like to think the boys have put it to the back of their minds. It is a young team and I have been there and you get carried away and look forward to it but the league is the be all and end all.
“We have six games to go and we need to win three of them to stand a chance and we’ll be doing everything we can to do that.”