Goals from James Craigen and Cammy Russell saw The Spartans extended their lead at the top of SPFL 2 to six points with a second victory over visitors East Kilbride in as many weeks at the Vanloq Community Stadium.
After progressing in the Scottish Cup at the expense of the K-Park side, Douglas Samuel’s side were back to the bread and butter of domestic action with just one change in the starting XI seeing Kenzi Nair coming in for Ayrton Sonkur.
A lunchtime mild monsoon made way for pleasant but fresh conditions come kick-off with the sides swapping ends after the toss with the now low setting sun beginning its journey behind the flats but still high enough to offer forty five minutes of discomfort to the side defending into it.
The visitors’ formation was one of change from seven days earlier and from the off their more aggressive top-heavy look ensured that the home defence needed to be on their toes from the off.
Paddy Martin was brought into action when he was forced into a diving effort to save a fierce John Robertson effort.
A free-kick to the tourists just outside the box moments later saw the wall and Cammy Russell ensure Martin wasn’t required this time round.
Then, the opener came at the other end in the 20 minute mark. A long ball into the box found James Craigen’s marker in snooze mode allowing the Spartans man time to turn and slide the ball beyond the keeper into the bottom of the net.
It was almost a second shortly after the restart when Jamie Dishington’s acrobatic overhead kick inside the penalty area just flashed past the post.
East Kilbride rallied and when a shot whizzed across the face of the goal, Paddy Martin was offered credit by the visiting bench for a save however the match officials denied the Spartans keeper a chance to add to his stats, much to the frustrations of the opposition.
With the half time team-talks being formulated in Manager’s minds, they were scrubbed out and re-written when Spartans doubled their lead.
A long ball over the top of the Kilby defence saw a bit of a wrestling match with Marc McNulty bundled to the ground however there was Cammy Russell who wasn’t keen on waiting for any possible whistle to wrap his boot round the ball, sending it into the back of the goal.
HT: The Spartans 2-0 East Kilbride
Spartans made one change at the break with Murray Aiken replacing Sean Welsh.
In a roles-reversed start to the second half, Spartans this time were to be the more dominant in the opening exchanges and it was almost a third when Marc McNulty sprung the offside trap and perhaps had too much time to decide on his finish, resulting in the Kilby keeper making a vital save.
Spartans made a further swap in personnel midway through the half when Callum Booth came on for Ethan Drysdale.
The visitors found reward for their endeavours to set up a nervous finale with fifteen minutes to go when former Spartans youth player Keir Foster fashioned out his second goal against his former club this season.
Mark Stowe was introduced for Marc McNulty as the game entered its final ten minutes or so.
Stowe must have thought he’d entered the wrestling ring by mistake when he was brought to the ground under some form of WWE move, which to his surprise weren’t deemed suitable for a foul.
With the Village Hotels sponsored scoreboard clock showing 89 minutes, Bailey Dall made a late cameo off the bench with goalscorer James Craigen leaving the field to warm applause from the home support.
The lottery of added time arrived and was spent largely in the bottom corner of the East Kilbride half with the deployment of Spartans’ game management technique of ‘keep-ball’ eating away at those extra nervous minutes.
FT: The Spartans 2-1 East Kilbride
Malt and Hops Man of the Match: Kieran Watson
