A double from Man of the Match Mark Stowe and a neat finish from Cammy Russell saw Douglas Samuel’s side kick-off the campaign with three points on the road against newly promoted East Kilbride.
After the ceremonial exchange of engraved melon and quaich in the boardroom, it was out onto the K-Park astro where the teams were to exchange no fewer than four goals in this SPFL 2 opening game of the season.
It was an ideal start for Douglas Samuel’s side when Cammy Russell pounced in the East Kilbride box to neatly lob keeper after just 8 minutes leaving the home fans silenced.
They didn’t have long to wait to witness a historic first SPFL goal and it came, ironically, from former Spartans u20s starlet Keir Foster in the 15th minute.
An opportunity for The Spartans to edge their noses back in front came shortly after when Bradley Whyte swung in a cross from out wide but it fell neatly into the keeper’s basket.
Mark Stowe was then played into the box, but as the angle got narrower, his effort was turned behind. The resultant corner was fisted out, fell to Jamie Dishington who sent his shot over the bar.
Stowe wasn’t to be denied for long as he capitalised on a shanked keeper clearance to slide the ball home into the empty net to regain the lead.
Then, with seven minutes left til the interval, Stowe received the ball some 25 yards out and launched it into the net, making it all the more dramatic by clipping the bottom of the crossbar as it found its destination.
HT: East Kilbride 1-3 The Spartans
The opening quarter of an hour after the interval failed to live up to its lively first half, with little to excite a packed K-Park crowd.
A training ground corner kick set-piece was then to find Ayrton Sonkur who looked on as his header was saved and eventually cleared as Spartans looked to put further light between the sides.
Cammy Russell was next up after getting the break of the ball in the middle of park. He raced in on goal however it was fine stop that denied Russell his second of the afternoon.
East Kilbride tried valiantly to narrow the deficit however they found the Spartans defence in fine form.
Then came a further opportunity to finish off the game when Cammy Russell shrugged off his man to slide the ball towards Jamie Dishington who saw his shot saved and pushed away for a throw.
Another swap for Spartans saw our Trialist replace Malt and Hops Man of the Match Mark Stowe.
With the game heading towards injury time, Spartans were reduced to ten men when Cammy Russell was shown a straight red card after what appeared to be a fairly unremarkable looking trip in the middle of the park.
Despite the numerical disadvantage, Spartans were to maintain their two goal cushion to start the season off with the win.
FT: East Kilbride 1-3 The Spartans
