A bumper crowd of 1,321 inside the Vanloq Community Stadium saw a share of the spoils in the SPFL match of the day as The Spartans and East Kilbride went head to head in their final meeting of the campaign.
The Spartans went led out by James Craigen who was joined by players from the Youth Section’s 2019 side and the slightly older Grant White, up on his Stag Do from Swindon.
A blustery afternoon in North Edinburgh saw both sides have to contend with wayward balls and misplaced passes in the opening stages in a top of the table tussle.
Ethan Drysdale was first to take on the visiting defence with the ball at feet as Spartans looked to take a hold of the game from the off.
There was an early booking for Kieran Watson who looked decidedly perplexed by the decision as he looked to get a second touch on the ball he’d won in an opening period where challenges were at a premium.
The biggest chance of the half came for the hosts when a James Craigen corner was flapped at by Craig Hepburn under pressure. The ball bobbled about on the goal line in a sea of legs before Jordan Tapping’s effort to convert went wide.
HT: The Spartans 0-0 East Kilbride
Spartans made a change at the break with Jake Davidson, who had received treatment in the first half, being replaced by Cammy Russell.
Russell was on hand to collect a perfectly weighted pass from Bradley Whyte only for his shot to be fisted away by Hepburn, half cleared by Sean Fagan and returned by Mark Stowe who fired over the bar.
Douglas Samuel’s side had responded best to whatever was said in the sheds during the internval and James Craigen’s corner swung into the heart of the six yard box found Jordan Tapping, who, whilst being manhandled by a defender, was able to stretch and head home to give Spartans the lead.
It took Aryton Sonkur flinging his gargantuan frame into the line of fire to block an attempt by the hosts to square proceedings as the game started to open up with a quarter of an hour left on the Village Hotel sponsored scoreboard.
Spartans made their second change of the afternoon when Bailey Dall replaced Mark Stowe.
Then, with ten minutes on the clock, Referee Lloyd Wilson was to offer the visitors a lifeline from the penalty spot. A long ball from John Robertson was headed into orbit by Jackson Mylechreest and as it made its way back to earth and into what looked like the relative safety of Paddy Martin’s gloves, the man in the middle deemed there was sufficient contact by Kieran Watson on Joao Balde – who bounced to his feet to celebrate after initially appearing to be writhing in pain – to merit a penalty.
John Robertson stepped up and despite Paddy Martin going in the same direction, the East Kilbride man found the net and it was once again all square.
More drama was to follow when Cammy Russell went down in the box, only for the Spartans playmaker was shown yellow for simulation under a challenge. Referee Wilson then brandish a second yellow in the direction of Kieran Watson, a decision missed by many inside the ground.
FT: The Spartans 1-1 East Kilbride
Malt and Hops Man of the Match: Jordan Tapping
Words and Image: Mark Brown
