Lochgilphead Red Star 3 East Kilbride Thistle 1
Greater Glasgow Premier AFL - Division 3
Red Star welcomed EK Thistle to Lochgilphead Joint Campus last Saturday for this league fixture and ran out deserved winners in the end after an impressive second half performance in particular.
The sides had traded victories in previous matches this season, Red Star winning the first contest 3-1 before Thistle turned the tables in East Kilbride 5-2, so a tight contest was anticipated and this is how it transpired early on.
The first half was a contest where both sides struggled to settle although Star probably edged it and took a deserved lead when Zach Campbell was first to pounce on a loose ball in the box to put Star 1-0 up at the break.
Into the second half and it was a much more controlled performance by the home side with Kyle Danson being moved up front to stretch the visitors’ defence and it was his strong running which saw him clear.
The Thistle defender mistimed his tackle in the box leaving referee Litster with a straightforward decision to point to the spot.
Craig Aitken stepped up and made no mistake firing his spot kick into the bottom corner.
Substitute Cameron Lewis made sure the game was safe for Star as he lobbed the keeper from just inside the box with an excellent finish to put the hosts 3-0 up with 10 minutes remaining.
Thistle did grab a goal themselves in the dying minutes to make it 3-1 but the Star defence of Tustin, Talbot, Ben Smith and Craig Aitken handled any remaining threat comfortably although Star did have keeper Leon Murphy to thank for an excellent stop late on to avoid a nervy finish.
On Saturday Star are on the road again with a tough looking fixture as they travel to take on league title hopefuls Neilston.
Yes! I would like to be sent emails from West Coast Today
I understand that my personal information will not be shared with any third parties, and will only be used to provide me with useful targeted articles as indicated.
I'm also aware that I can un-subscribe at any point either from each email notification or on My Account screen.