Rutherglen Glencairn Football Club

Saturday 12th December 2009 - Stagecoach West Region Super League Division One

(Report by Peter Ferguson)

Kenny Hadden launches a cross into the box in the first half.

This result means that The Glens are assured of ending 2009 in the same place as they started it - top of the league ! That's quite an achievement when you consider that, in the middle of the year, the team moved up to the West Region Super League set-up for the first time ever. No matter what happens in the final league game of the year at home against promotion rivals Clydebank, the Central District League champions will start 2010 setting the pace once again.

There were three changes to the starting line-up after the previous week's win over Maybole Juniors, with Craig Palmer returning after suspension at left back, and influential players Davie Dickson and Paul McLaughlin restored to the team. The players making way were Ryan McArdle, Chris Hopkins and Stephen McGladrigan.

Renfrew, of course, are the only side to have beaten The Glens in the league so far this season, so the Rutherglen side were keen to make amends for that slip-up back in August. After struggling to get into full gear last week, Glencairn were keen to come out of the traps firing, and there was a good pace to the play right from the start. Renfrew's veteran captain Neil Shearer had to be switched on in the 5th minute to cut out a cross from Glens' overlapping right back Kenny Hadden just as Stephen O'Keane was swinging his leg to apply the finishing touch.

Renfrew hadn't read the home side's script, however, and in the 9th minute they were awarded a penalty kick after Tony Fraser nudged James Crowhurst off the ball after a deep cross to the back post. It was a correct decision by referee Mr Iain Craig, and Matt McLean stepped up to fire the ball firmly past Glencairn goalkeeper Steven McNeil to make the score 1-0 to the visitors.

The Glens reacted well to this setback, however, and came storming straight back at their opponents. Fraser overlapped on McLaughlin on the left and his square ball across goal was met sweetly by Richie Burke, but Renfrew goalkeeper Iain Wilson made an excellent stretching save. A minute later McLaughlin skipped past Jim Quigley on the edge of the area and cut the ball back to Dickson, but the normally composed Glens' captain fired the ball wildly over the bar.

Burke was very prominent in the play, despite being a left-footer playing unusually on the right. The young Irish midfielder cut across the edge of the penalty area in the 18th minute and fired a shot towards goal, but Wilson saved the effort comfortably.

Renfrew's efforts on goal were few and far between at this point, but in the 20th minute Shearer outmuscled David Barr midway inside the Glencairn half and fired in a left foot shot, but the ball flew harmlessly over McNeil's crossbar.

The Glens got their derserved equaliser in the 25th minute, and it was a cracker. A loose pass by a Renfrew midfielder was pounced on by Chris Gentile and he surged forward to the edge of the penalty box before laying the ball off to Stephen O'Keane, and the striker let the ball run across him before firing a decisive shot into the corner of the net past a helpless Wilson.

Stephen O'Keane

Burke went close to giving Glencairn the lead on the half-hour when he got his head on the end of a long free kick by Hadden, but his effort went narrowly past the post with Wilson rooted to his line. It didn't take long for The Glens to get their noses in front for real, though. Four minutes later Kenny Hadden swung over an inswinging left footed cross which everybody left, including Wilson, and the ball nestled into the corner of the net to put the league leaders 2-1 in front.

 Kenny Hadden

It was all Glencairn attacking at this point, and Wilson had to be sharp off his line to deny O'Keane after Dickson's pass cut the Renfrew defence open in the 40th minute. Two minutes later The Glens scored a terrific goal which brought a huge cheer from the home support. Richie Burke cut in from the right wing and surged towards the edge of the penalty area, before exchanging passes with O'Keane. He ran onto the return pass and fired a firm left foot shot which flew off Wilson's foot into the postage-stamp corner of the net.

 Richie Burke

Dickson almost increased the lead on the stroke of half-time when he twisted and turned several times on the edge of the penalty area before firing a shot narrowly wide of the left-hand post.

Half-time : 3-1

The pressure towards Renfrew's goal continued at the start of the second half, and Tony Fraser overlapped on the left and whipped over a cross which was just out of the reach of the sliding Paul McLaughlin. The domination continued as McLaughlin's flick set Fraser up for a shot inside the box, but the firm effort was blocked by Shearer. Another attack in the 54th minute saw Dickson fire a volley over the crossbar from the edge of the penalty box.

Renfrew were working hard to get back into the match but they just couldn't make any impact on the Glencairn defence which was being superbly marshalled by Jamie Prunty and protected by Chris Gentile in front of them. A 72nd minute free kick from 25 yards by David Gray which flew well over the crossbar was the closest the visitors had come to scoring in the second half up to that point.

Play quickly flew back to the other end of the park, and Burke released McLaughlin on the right and his cross flashed across the face of goal just too quickly for Fraser to get on the end of it.  Two minutes later there was an amazing escape for Renfrew when McLaughlin was twice denied from only a yard out in a goalmouth scramble.

There was a shock for the home side, though, only a few seconds later when play was stopped as referee Mr Craig was summoned to speak to his assistant on the far side. It was unclear exactly what the assistant had seen, but Glencairn's top goalscorer Paul McLaughlin was shown a straight red card for an off-the-ball incident in the immediate aftermath of the last chance.

With the team now down to 10 men, it was understandable that Glencairn's previous dominance of the match did not continue after that. Matt McLean fired a left foot snapshot just wide from the edge of the penalty box for Renfrew, and substitute Stephen Reid saw his shot deflected by Prunty but saved comfortably by McNeil.

Tony Fraser almost increased Glencairn's lead in the 88th minute with a terrific angled shot with the outside of his foot, but it flew wide of the post by about 2 inches. The final effort of the match came from another free kick for the visitors by Gray, which McNeil saved well with a full-length dive and parry to his left.

So The Glens kept up their 100% home league record in what was a more comfortable match than what many had expected. Co-manager Scott Smith was pleased with what he had seen from the team. He commented, "That was much better than last week. I thought we played at a good tempo throughout the whole game. We're well chuffed with how it went."

Rutherglen Glencairn :- McNeil, Hadden, Palmer, Prunty, Barr, Gentile, Burke, Dickson, McLaughlin, O'Keane (McGladrigan), Fraser. (Subs not used - McDougall, Thomson, McArdle, Hopkins, McShane, Samushonga (gk).)

Renfrew :- Wilson, Hammond, Gordon, Quigley (Forbes), Shearer, Welsh (Reid), Crowhurst (Lauchlan), Dickie, McLean, Maxwell, Gray. (Subs not used - Currie, Smart, Prentice and Smith.)

Referee :- Mr Iain Craig. Assistant Referees :- Mr Chris Docherty and Mr Alex Paterson.

Man of the match - (Chosen by Isobel Rae) Stephen O'Keane scored the crucial equalising goal and was a threat to the Renfrew back line all afternoon. The returning Craig Palmer also got a special mention for an excellent performance.

Saturday 5th December 2009 - Stagecoach West Region Super League Division One

(Report by Peter Ferguson) (Thank you once again to Davie Brown for the video action. )

Glens winger Ryan McArdle skips past Martin Riley during a first half attack.

The Glens maintained their 4-point lead at the top of the Stagecoach West Region Super League Division One with this hard-fought win over 4th-placed Maybole Juniors. It was far from the best performance of the season from Glencairn, but winning when you're not at your best is always important in terms of achieving your season's ambitions.

The league leaders took to the field wearing a brand new home strip for the very first time, and there were a few changes to the starting line-up from last week's terrific win away to Glenafton Athletic. Top goalscorer Paul McLaughlin and captain Davie Dickson were rested (although on the bench) and they were replaced in the starting eleven by Stephen McGladrigan and Chris Hopkins.

Glencairn's goal scorer Stephen O'Keane shows off the club's new home strip.

The game took some time to get going, and there had been next to no goalmouth action at either end when the game burst into life in the 9th minute. Stephen McGladrigan won a loose ball on the halfway line, skipped past Maybole defender Stuart Peacock and suddenly he was clean through on goal. Just as he was about to shoot though, he was chopped to the ground on the edge of the penalty area by Craig Stevenson. The referee had no option, it was a clear cut red card, and Stevenson didn't argue the point. Hopkins curled the free kick inches wide of the post.

 The red card incident.

Perhaps the recent run of good form and playing against 10 men so early in the match made the Glencairn players complacent, or perhaps it was just a collective off day for the team, but for the remaining 81 minutes you would never have known that The Glens had a man advantage. Maybole gave as good as they got and were unfortunate not to take the lead three times in the next 15 minutes.

First of all Martin Riley fired an angled shot narrowly wide of the right-hand post, then striker Paul Kerr got his head to a cross just in front of Glens goalkeeper Steven McNeil, but the glanced effort went just past the left-hand post. After 18 minutes McNeil was called into action again, blocking a curling free kick from the edge of the box by Paul Cameron and then reacting quickly to smother the rebound before Maybole striker Jordan Kerr could pounce on the ball.

Gradually, though, Glencairn started to get a control of the match as the first half developed. Hopkins went close with another free kick from the edge of the area, this time pulling a save out of Maybole goalkeeper Martin McCauley.

The Glens thought they had taken the lead in the 38th minute when Ryan McArdle's deep cross from the right was bulleted into the net at the back post by the head of Richie Burke, but the goal was disallowed for offside. It was questionable about who the assistant referee had given the offence against, but Burke didn't debate the decision although he clearly initially thought that he had scored a good goal.

Play continued to flow towards the railway end goal as Glencairn pushed for a goal before the interval. In the 40th minute Kenny Hadden beat the offside trap on the right and found himself in acres of space, but his cross was cut out by McCauley before McGladrigan could apply the finishing touch.

Just before the half-time whistle there was an incredible let-off for the visitors, as Hadden's cross was headed towards goal by McGladrigan, only for it to be blocked on its way by the back of team-mate Hopkins. The was a pin-ball effect inside the 6-yard box for a couple of seconds, but remarkably the ball didn't cross the line and the score remained blank at the interval.

Half-time : 0-0

There were no changes to either line-up at half-time, but The Glens came out firing at the start of the second half and created several good chances to break the deadlock. McCauley produced a terrific save with his legs in the 47th minute to block a volleyed effort on the stretch by Stephen O'Keane after a brilliant cross by Tony Fraser. Fraser set up another chance shortly afterwards when he overlapped Burke on the left and swung over another great cross which was just out of the reach of the sliding McGladrigan.

The Glens got their reward for their pressure in the 50th minute. Hadden surged forward over the halfway line and fed a pass up to O'Keane, who in turn slipped a pass through to McArdle. As the wide man ran onto the pass, he was sandwiched inside the penalty area by two Maybole defenders, and as he fell to the ground the referee immediately pointed to the penalty spot. Stephen O'Keane immediately grabbed the ball, and he fired the ball decisively past McCauley to give Glencairn a deserved 1-0 lead.

Ryan McArdle is brought down and Stephen O'Keane scores from the penalty spot.

Instead of driving home their 1-man and 1-goal advantage, though, Glencairn went into their shell somewhat after taking the lead. Maybole lost midfielder Paul Cameron with what looked like a bad facial injury, but it didn't seem to affect them as they proceeded to pressurise the Glencairn defence despite their man disadvantage.

Paul Kerr pounced on a slip by Glens defender David Barr and suddenly he was through on goal on the angle of the penalty area. However, as he has done several times in recent weeks, Steven McNeil came to Barr's rescue by racing from his line to cut down the angle for Kerr, and the Glens no.1 blocked the shot with his legs.

Kenny Hadden went close on the hour mark when he cut inside and unleashed a firm left foot shot which was rising towards the roof of the net, but McCauley was well positioned and saved the shot on his goal line.

After the dubious disallowed goal in the first half, there were some furrowed brows around the ground when the same happened in the 65th minute. McArdle's cross from the right found its way to O'Keane at the back post and he headed into the net unchallenged, only for the assistant referee to raise his flag to indicate that the ball had allegedly crossed the bye line before swinging back towards the Glencairn striker. It seemed a very harsh (and incorrect) call.

 O'Keane's disallowed goal.

Co-manager Scott Smith was pleased with the result, but less pleased with the general performance. He said, "It was our worst performance since the defeat at Renfrew. We were very flat, but we won, that's what's important."

Rutherglen Glencairn :- McNeil, Hadden, Fraser, Prunty, Barr, Gentile, McArdle, Hopkins (Dickson), McGladrigan (McLaughlin), O'Keane (McDougall), Burke. (Subs not used - McShane, Thomson and Samushonga (gk).)

Maybole Juniors :- McCauley, Conkie (Walker), Crawford, Craig Stevenson, Peacock, Cameron (Clark), Boyle, McGrady, Jordan Kerr (Love), Paul Kerr, Riley. (Subs not used - Andy Stevenson and Merry.)

Referee :- Mr Colin Steven. Assistant Referees :- Mr Raymond Lawrie and Mr Frank Queen.

Man of the match - (Chosen by Craig Palmer, Paul Thomson, Lee McShane and Chris Hopkins) After a string of impressive performances, Steven McNeil thoroughly deserved his second clean sheet in a row with some match-winning saves in the second half.

 Steven McNeil

Saturday 28th November 2009 - Stagecoach West Region Super League Division One

(Report by Peter Ferguson)

Ryan McArdle sets up a first half attack for Glencairn.

If you had asked most Glencairn fans what their expectations were for their club's first ever season in the Stagecoach West Region Super League Division One, most would probably have settled happily for a mid-table finish and a season of consolidation at the higher level.

Eyebrows were raised, however, at the start of the season when the management team were heard talking up their team's prospects of challenging for promotion again. Some of the support, myself included I have to admit, thought that to be an overly optimistic outlook on the season we were about to commence. But here we are at the end of November, and Glencairn are four points clear at the top of the league table, with three games in hand over 2nd-placed Glenafton Athletic, who Glencairn today defeated for the second time this season.

For the ease of understanding, the team I refer to in this article as "The Glens" are Glencairn, and Glenafton will be given their full name, as The Glens were formed 34 years before the Ayrshire side. It brought some interesting debate under the covered enclosure this afternoon.

The Glens' starting line-up was shuffled to take account of the heavy playing surface and the expected physical battle that Ayrshire v Central ties usually bring, especially at the top of the league table. Paul Thomson is suffering from a niggling injury, so he was left on the bench and replaced in the starting line-up by Ryan McArdle. The other change was the introduction of Chris Gentile in midfield, with Stephen O'Keane's physical presence moved up front alongside Paul McLaughlin at the expense of the pace of Stephen McGladrigan.

The opening stages saw the teams feeling each other out without too much in the way of goalmouth incidents. The only near thing was a half-chance for Glenafton midfielder Chic Connolly who fired a loose ball well over the bar after 2 minutes.

The first serious chance of the game fell to The Glens, and it came in the 10th minute when a Richie Burke pass saw Paul McLaughlin beat the offside trap and run away from the Glenafton defence, only for home goalkeeper Ally Semple to race from his line to make an excellent block. A couple of minutes later Burke went close himself, getting his head on the end of a free kick cross by McArdle, but sending his header wide of the post.

It was a very even contest throughout most of the match, and neither team had any prolonged spells of pressure with play flowing well from end to end. Glenafton had a couple of really good chances to score in the 14th minute. Firstly striker Steven Shankland volleyed over the bar on the stretch after a clever chipped pass from Brian Miller, and then the impressive Joe Savage fired over the bar from the edge of the penalty area under severe pressure from Glencairn defender David Barr. Savage put in an impressive 90 minutes and was the main source of danger to the Glencairn defence throughout the match.

The Glens had another great chance to break the deadlock in the 20th minute. Another great pass by Burke released O'Keane on the angle of the penalty area, and after holding off his marker the striker fired his shot towards goal, only to see Semple produce another excellent save to tip his shot wide for a corner. From the resulting corner the ball fell to defender Kenny Hadden on the edge of the penalty area, but his angled shot flew narrowly over the crossbar.

Play was flowing from end to end at this stage, and after Glenafton midfielder Dougie Ramsay had fired just wide of the post, Glencairn captain Davie Dickson passed up a terrific chance to score, slicing a cut-back into the air after a run and cut-back by McLaughlin.

Back we went to the other end again, and a controversial free kick on the edge of the The Glens' penalty area saw Miller's cross pick out Shankland for a free header, but the striker glanced his effort wide of the post.

Shortly afterwards it was Glencairn no.1 Steven McNeil to the rescue as he made an excellent save, diving back to tip Gordon Moffat's header over the crossbar. McNeil is one of the most improved performers in the Glencairn squad of late, and he produced another excellent block to deny Shankland as he ran through on goal, and Jamie Prunty mopped up the loose ball.

Glencairn goalkeeper Steven McNeil in first half action.

As half-time approached it was The Glens who were on the front foot. O'Keane had a goal-bound snapshot inside the penalty area blocked by a crowd of legs, and then Burke sent an angled shot narrowly wide. Just before the whistle a teasing cross by Tony Fraser found its way onto the head of McLaughlin, but the striker's effort went narrowly wide and the score remained blank at the interval.

Half-time : 0-0

There were no changes to either line-up for the start of the second half, but it didn't take long for the deadlock to be broken. It was a bizarre goal to say the least, but nobody in black and white was complaining. Richie Burke took on Moffat on the left wing and got to the bye-line before swinging over a cross which went over Semple's head, rebounded from the crossbar and somehow ended up in the corner of the net via deflections off a defender and Semple, both of whom seemed to know very little about it. The Dubious Goals Committee (i.e. the Glencairn dugout) seemed to want to credit the goal to Burke, and that's good enough for me !

 Richie Burke

The lead was almost doubled three minutes later when O'Keane surged towards goal and fired in a shot from the edge of the box, but Semple saved it on the 6-yard line.

The excellent delivery from wide areas of Glenafton wide man Brian Miller was causing problems for the league leaders' defence, and another pin-point cross from the right found its way onto the unmarked head of Chris Merrilees, but his glanced effort flew wide of the post to the relief of whoever was supposed to be marking him.

The balanced nature of the match continued and play went back to the other end. This time Chris Gentile pounced on a poor clearance on the edge of the penalty area, but he pulled his shot slightly and the ball flew inches wide of Semple's right-hand post. Gentile was producing a typically hard-working performance and would have deserved to get on the score sheet.

Once again it was back to the other end, and Glenafton wide man Simon Eeles drifted past  McArdle and Hadden before cutting a cross back from the bye-line. Just as Savage was swinging his leg to apply the finishing touch, Steven McNeil dived out positively to cut out the cross and smother the loose ball.

The home side's chances of pulling themselves back into the game suffered a major blow in the 65th minute with a self-inflicted wound. Paul McLaughlin broke down the left wing, and as he skipped past defender Jordan Mullen the Glenafton defender simply chopped him to the ground with a crude challenge right in front of the Glencairn dugout. The referee had no hesitation in producing a straight red card from his pocket and Mullen made the walk to the changing rooms.

A couple of minutes later a foul was given against Glens' defender David Barr for a challenge on danger man Savage, although it looked like a good challenge from my angle. Barr had already been booked earlier in the match for dissent, and Savage let himself down by jumping to his feet and waving an imaginary card in the air at the referee in an attempt to influence the whistler into sending Barr off. The referee was not influenced, but Glencairn sensibly withdrew Barr from the action a minute later, sending on Lee McShane into his central defensive place.

Perhaps the shouts from the home support did have an impact on the referee's thinking slightly, as only a few minutes later Paul McLaughlin was booked for diving after he was clearly fouled by Moffat, who almost stood on him as well as McLaughlin lay on the ground. McLaughlin was clearly bemused by the decision and had to be pulled away by his team-mates before he talked his way into a second booking.

Paul McLaughlin holds off a challenge in the second half.

It looked like Richie Burke had passed up a golden chance to tie up the points in the 73rd minute when he fired wide from 12 yards after brilliant link play by Fraser and McLaughlin, but the goal would have been disallowed for offside against Fraser in any case.

Even with the one-man disadvantage, Joe Savage was still causing problems for The Glens' defence, and in the 75th minute Glens' keeper McNeil produced a quite brilliant diving save and smother after a powerful run and shot by Savage seemed certain to end in an equaliser.

As the match moved towards a conclusion, Glencairn sat in deeper and frustrated the home side. Eeles cut in from the left and fired a shot which flew across goal and wide, and that was the closest the home side came to scoring in the closing stages as Prunty and McShane cleared their lines effectively every time the ball came into their central defensive territory.

When the final whistle blew, the delight at the result in the Glencairn camp was obvious as they opened up a gap at the top of the league table. Scott Smith made clear his pleasure at the performance. "It was a superb team effort and their attitude was spot on. That's as good as it's been away from home, we're well pleased."

Glenafton Athletic :- Semple, Moffat, McKillan, Merrilees, Mullan, Ramsay (Clapperton), Miller (Quitongo), Connolly, Savage, Shankland (Scoular), Eeles. (Subs not used - Trialist and Wilson.)

Rutherglen Glencairn :- McNeil, Hadden, Fraser, Prunty, Barr (McShane), Gentile, McArdle (McGladrigan), Dickson, McLaughlin (McDougall), O'Keane, Burke. (Subs not used - Hopkins, Thomson and Samushonga (gk).)

Man of the match - (Chosen by Tom McKenzie) Chris Gentile covered just about every blade of grass and did the simple things extremely well. His performance summarised the hard working attitude of the whole team today.

 Chris Gentile

Saturday 14th November 2009 - Stagecoach West Region Super League Division One

(Report by Jim Keith)

Glencairn press for a winning goal. (Thank you to Adam Hutchison for the picture.)

Glencairn travelled well down the A77 for the next encounter of their league campaign. Left back Craig Palmer, sent off last week against Cumnock, started a three-match ban, and centre-half Lee McShane was on the subs bench after feeling ill earlier in the week. This meant Tony Fraser reverting to left back and Richie Burke was slotted into midfield. David Barr replaced McShane at the heart of The Glens' defence. The rest of the team remained unchanged from last week's game, after which Glencairn went top of the division.

The large playing surface seemed to be rather heavy after the recent rains, and the first 10 minutes or so provided little entertainment for the fans as both sides struggled to create anything of note. The first real shot of the match came in the 11th minute when Paul McLaughlin had a shot at goal from inside the box which was well saved by Girvan keeper Leavy.

The Glens were trying to get forward and in the 14th minute skipper Davie Dickson had a pop at goal from outside the box which was deflected for a corner. Girvan then had a chance in the 17th minute when livewire front man Michael Moffat cut in from the left and fired a strong shot over McNeil's crossbar. Moffat was the player catching the eye in the first half and any danger created by Girvan seemed to involve him.

Halfway through the first half, Dickson shot at goal from distance which was deflected for a corner on the right. Paul Thomson floated the ball over and the ball fell to defender Kenny Hadden, who saw an effort cleared off the line by Girvan left back O'Donnell. Immediately after this, Moffat again created danger for The Glens' defence, taking on player after player before cutting a good cross over Glencairn's 6-yard area which was prodded past the left-hand post.

Girvan, at this stage, were matching Glencairn in chances and endeavour. Moffat again drove at the Glencairn defence and put a good ball across which was headed over the bar by no.9 Mitchell. They had another chance shortly afterwards, when Mitchell ran towards The Glens' area but a perfectly-timed sliding tackle by Barr cleared the threat. It was proving to be a difficult game for both sides.

Girvan broke the deadlock in 35 minutes. A flighted ball down Glencairn's left side was completely missed by right back Hadden. Left winger Gilmour gathered the ball, sent over a cross into the heart of The Glens' defence which was missed by everyone, and there was Wallace standing on the 18-yard line striking a powerful shot high into the net with Steven McNeil well beaten. This was a real setback for Glencairn, as although they were not at their best, they did not deserve to be behind. Indeed, at this stage, Glencairn keeper McNeil hadn't had one save to make.

The Glens again, though, showed good character, and Tony Fraser almost brought the scores level in the 40th minute when his shot from the edge of the box was deflected onto the crossbar. But three minutes before half-time the match was all square. Burke had a shot at goal which was deflected for a corner. Thomson took the kick and the ball was cleared right back to him. He controlled it, looked up and sent a deep cross to the far side of the 6-yard box. Defender Kenny Hadden, up in support, rose to meet the cross and he floated a looping header into the opposite corner of the net.

 Kenny Hadden, Glencairn's goal scorer.

The half-time whistle blew to end the half with both teams having everything to play for.

Half-time : 1-1

The second half saw The Glens pushing forward and in the 48th minute they had a half-chance to go ahead when a cross from the left by Thomson was met by a backwards header by Stephen McGladrigan which narrowly went over the bar from a tight angle.

Richie Burke then played a prominent role as firstly he crossed a long, looping ball towards the far side of the goal which was scrambled away by Leavy, and a minute later he ran in on goal on the left side and, although pressurised by a defender, his shot shaved the outside edge of Leavy's right-hand post.

The Glens were gradually looking the stronger side, restricting Girvan to few chances. The only thing that was missing, possibly, was a killer pass or one piece of individual brilliance. On the hour mark, Glencairn had a chance to go in front after a melee in the Girvan penalty box, only yards from goal. The ball was eventually cleared after a number of players tried to get the ball into the net, but it just would not fall to an unmarked player. Glencairn were certainly exerting much more pressure on the Girvan defence but they just could not get themselves in front, and there was always the danger of Girvan hitting them with a sucker-punch.

On the 70th minute Glencairn made their first substitution, bringing on striker Paul McDougall as a direct replacement for McGladrigan. Within a minute of coming on, McDougall almost made an immediate impact when he got on the end of a cross and headed towards goal, but the ball rebounded from the crossbar. A minute later Hadden was booked by referee Mr Docherty for fouling dangerman Moffat, who had faded slightly in the second half.

Girvan then brought on two of their substitutes, one of which played a leading part in any of Girvan's forward play in the final 15 minutes. Glencairn introduced winger Ryan McArdle in the 78th minute in place of Burke, who appeared to be feeling some kind of injury. The 80th minute saw Glencairn striker McLaughlin entering the referee's book for mouthing off after having been fouled in the centre circle.

In the 87th minute of the match the Glencairn support watched anxiously as Girvan created a good chance to get all three points. A poor cross from McArdle was intercepted and Girvan broke quickly towards Glencairn's goal. The ball found its way to Mitchell inside the penalty area on the left. He looked up and, fortunately for all connected to The Glens, blasted the ball over the bar.

With two minutes to play Davie Dickson had an excellent piece of individual play cleared for a corner, and in the final minute Glens' defender Barr was booked for throwing the ball down in anger after he disputed a throw-in. The referee blew the final whistle and both teams had to be satisfied with a point apiece.

Before the match began, the Glencairn management team would probably have accepted a point, but in a somewhat frustrating afternoon the chances were there for possibly all three in a difficult away fixture. The Glens now travel to Neilston on Saturday for another league fixture, no doubt expecting another difficult match against a team scrapping for every point they can get.

Girvan :- Leavy, McGilp, D. Cunningham, Murphy, O'Donnell, Biggart, Wilson, Wallace, Mitchell, Moffat, Gilmour.

Rutherglen Glencairn :- McNeil, Hadden, Fraser, Prunty, Barr, Dickson, Thomson, O'Keane, McGladrigan (McDougall), McLaughlin, Burke (McArdle). (Subs not used - Samushonga (gk), McShane, Hopkins and Gentile.)

Referee :- Mr R. Docherty.

Saturday 7th November 2009 - Stagecoach West Region Super League Division One

(Report by Peter Ferguson)

Tony Fraser clashes with former Glens player Willie Galloway.

The Glens moved to the top of the Stagecoach West Region Super League Division One as they kept up their 100% home league record in a quite incredible game. Glencairn's last four league matches have seen them take on four teams near the top of the table, and 10 points out of 12 have led to the Central District League champions from last season setting the pace again in their first season at Super League level. This time it was the bookies' favourites for the league title that left The Clyde Gateway Stadium with nothing to show for their efforts.

This match had everything. Five goals, four red cards, three disallowed goals, two missed penalties, but at the end of the day there was only one winner ! There was only one change to the Glencairn line-up from last week's cup match, Stephen McGladrigan restored up front at the expense of Paul McDougall.

The match burst into life right from the kick off. Davie Dickson fired narrowly over the crossbar for Glencairn in the 2nd minute, and then at the other end in the 4th minute Dickson deflected a free kick by Gareth Campbell just wide of Glens goalkeeper Steven McNeil's left hand post. From the resulting corner, the deadlock was broken. Gary McMenamin's deep inswinging corner found its way onto the head of Graeme Wilson on the 6-yard line, and he had the simple task of glancing the ball into the corner of the net to put the visitors into an early 1-0 lead.

Cumnock looked sharper and faster early in the match, and it took the hosts some time to settle into the match, although Paul Thomson did go close in the 10th minute when he fired narrowly wide of the post after a surging run by Stephen O'Keane had set up the chance. Gradually, though, The Glens found their feet in the game, and they started to exert some sustained pressure on the Cumnock defence. Thomson's inswinging cross from the left caused confusion in the visitors' defence and missed everybody, flying narrowly past the right hand post of Cumnock goalkeeper Chris Fahey as everybody seemed to stop.

Paul McLaughlin sets up another chance for Glencairn with a clever flick.

A minute later, Glencairn had a golden opportunity to level the scoreline when Paul McLaughlin skipped past Willie Galloway inside the penalty area, and the former Glens defender brought him down, and referee Mr Steven Reid pointed to the penalty spot. The normally reliable Tony Fraser stepped forward as usual, but to everybody's surprise he scuffed his shot wide of the post.

This rocked Glencairn back on their heels again for a spell, and they were fortunate not to go two goals behind when Cumnock had a goal disallowed in the 33rd minute. James Moan got in behind the defence and Steven McNeil made an outstanding diving save to block his shot. The ball fell into the path of Gary Wild who fired it into the net, but the linesman had correctly flagged for offside against Wild. Had McNeil not saved the initial shot it would have been a goal.

There were chances at both ends just before the interval. Firstly another surging run and shot by the impressive O'Keane saw the ball deflected just wide of the post, and then McNeil produced another terrific save after James Tyler's angled shot across goal was deflected on its way, but the Glens stopper dived to his right to tip the ball round the post.

Half-time : 0-1

What was said to in the Glencairn dressing room at half time certainly had the desired effect, as the Rutherglen side came out a transformed side. The Glens dominated the game from the restart, and almost equalised straight away when Fraser's cross was right onto the head of the unmarked McLaughlin, but Fahey produced a brilliant diving save to keep Cumnock in front.

The Glens had yet another golden chance to level the score after 50 minutes when the referee pointed to the penalty spot again, when McLaughlin was brought down on the 6-yard line after good work on the right by full back Kenny Hadden. This time it was Paul McLaughlin who took the responsibility, but Fahey produced another excellent save to once again deny Glencairn.

Glencairn were almost made to pay for their 2nd penalty miss only a minute later when Cumnock defender Stephen Murray headed past McNeil from close range, but once again the linesman's offside flag denied Cumnock a second goal.

You could maybe have expected the home side's heads to go down at this point, but to their credit they kept plugging away, and in the 55th minute The Glens got their deserved equaliser. Stephen O'Keane picked the ball up in a deep position, once again surged forward and this time unleashed a low left foot shot which flew into the the net past Fahey to make it 1-1.

 Stephen O'Keane

The equaliser marked the start of an amazing 10 minute spell which saw four players shown straight red cards, one from Glencairn and three from Cumnock. It all started in the 58th minute when McNeil held a cross under extreme pressure, and as he lay on the ground with the ball in his hands, Cumnock defender Stephen Murray took a kick at him. The Glens players were furious at this and suddenly there was an all-in fight taking place in the penalty area. Once it had calmed down, the referee firstly red carded Glens defender Craig Palmer for his involvement in the scuffle, and then also showed red to Murray, and both sides were down to 10 men.

The Glens thought they had taken the lead on the hour mark when McLaughlin flicked on a cross into the path of Paul Thomson and he volleyed decisively into the net from 6 yards, but the goal was disallowed for offside, to the disappointment of the Glencairn contingent in the crowd.

Four minutes later Cumnock winger Gary McMenamin caught Thomson with a late lunging tackle as the midfielder tried to play a ball up the line. The referee initially produced a yellow card for McMenamin, but the assistant referee's flag immediately went up, and after discussion between the officials McMenamin was shown a straight red card, and Cumnock were down to nine men.

Incredibly, only two minutes later, there was another red card, and once again for a Cumnock player. This time the referee had absolutely no doubt, as defender Steve Agnew handled the ball to stop it running through to two Glencairn strikers who were about to run through on goal.

So suddenly it was 10 v 8, and it was just a matter of whether Glencairn could break down the Cumnock defence again. There was a hint of frustration in the ranks when Dickson fired over the bar in the 70th minute, but the constant pressure towards the changing room end goal finally paid off in the 73rd minute. Fraser's corner was glanced towards goal by McLaughlin but brilliantly parried again by Fahey. First to react, though, was Glens defender Lee McShane who stabbed the ball into the net from 4 yards out to make it 2-1 to the home side.

 Lee McShane

After that it was just a matter of doing the right things, keeping possession, spreading the play wide and stretching the play with the extra men, and Glencairn did the job well. McLaughlin seemed particularly desperate to score, and had two efforts from the edge of the box fly narrowly wide before Fahey made yet another superb save to deny a blistering volley by Fraser after some brilliant set-up play by McLaughlin.

The game was effectively killed as a contest in the 83rd minute when the ball fell on the edge of the box to Glencairn captain Davie Dickson, and he took a touch before firing a firm low shot past Fahey into the corner of the net. The Glens' players celebrated that goal well as they knew that was the moment that the three points were secured.

 Davie Dickson

Cumnock almost gave themselves a lifeline in the 84th minute when slackness in the home defence allowed substitute Gareth Armstrong a free header from 8 yards, but once again McNeil produced an excellent save down low to his left.

The final word came from The Glens, though, and Paul McLaughlin got the goal he deserved and his 9th goal of the season, turning inside his marker and curling a beautiful shot past Fahey from the edge of the penalty area to complete the scoring at 4-1.

 Paul McLaughlin

The players of both sides were given a warm reception by both sets of fans as they left the park at the end after a terrific afternoon's entertainment, although the visiting fans were keen to vent their feelings at the officials as well.

Glens co-manager Scott Smith commented after the match, "We played well. We lacked a cutting edge in the first half, although we had plenty of the ball. We were much better in the second half."

Rutherglen Glencairn :- McNeil, Hadden, Palmer, Prunty, McShane, O'Keane, Thomson (Burke), Dickson (Hopkins), McGladrigan (McDougall), McLaughlin, Fraser. (Subs not used - Barr, McArdle and Samushonga (gk).)

Cumnock Juniors :- Fahey, Galloway, Agnew, Murray, Wild, Campbell, Gordon (Moore), Moan (Armstrong), Tyler, Wilson, McMenamin. (Subs not used - McMillan, Trialist, Gold, Farrell and Barnes (gk).)

Man of the match - (Chosen by Alex Forbes) Stephen O'Keane started the comeback with the equalising goal, and his surging runs from midfield were a strong feature of the match. Once again a special mention goes to goalkeeper Steven McNeil for some great saves at vital times.

Saturday 31st October 2009 - Emirates Scottish Junior Cup Round 2

(Report by Peter Ferguson)

Kenny Hadden strides forward from right back early in the match.

Any form of win away from home in the Scottish Junior Cup is a good one. It wasn't the best Glencairn performance of the season, but it was all about getting into the draw for the next round. On a very heavy pitch and against an in-form and motivated team from the league below who fancied their chances of an upset, The Glens got the job done.

There were two changes to the starting line-up for Glencairn from last weekend's team, with Paul McDougall replacing Stephen McGladrigan up front, and Stephen O'Keane preferred in central midfield to Chris Gentile.

The Glens almost made the perfect start to the game when top goalscorer Paul McLaughlin was released through on goal in the opening minute. The striker tried to be too precise with his finish, however, and as he aimed for the postage-stamp corner he fired the ball narrowly over the bar.

There was a blow for the hosts in the 14th minute when they had to make an early substitution, as Barry Murdoch limped off to be replaced by Lee Black. However, it was to prove to be a highly significant substitution as Black proceeded to play a major part in the action.

Paul McLaughlin was causing all the problems for the Gow defence early in the match, and he fired narrowly wide of the post in the 15th minute after Tony Fraser had robbed home defender Steven Cunningham of possession and set up the chance with a clever pass.

There was a lucky escape for The Glens in the 19th minute, however, when Paul Thomson was in the right place at the right time to clear the ball off the line after Gow striker Ross McGeachie's shot had been deflected past helpless Glens' goalkeeper Steven McNeil. The pressure from the home side continued for a spell, and Jamie Prunty had to stretch his neck muscles to head clear at the back post after a teasing cross from Nicky Sullivan looked perfect for the head of Black.

The Glens got a grip of the game for a 15-minute period from the 24th minute onwards, when first of all Paul Thomson's shot was deflected wide after a swift breakaway involving clever link play between McLaughlin and McDougall. From the resulting corner Glens' captain Davie Dickson fired narrowly over the crossbar from the edge of the area. Glencairn kept the play flowing towards the home goal, and when Fraser's free kick was headed away it was met sweetly on the volley by Kenny Hadden and fired back towards goal, where it was blocked away for another corner.

The pressure paid off in the 29th minute when Glencairn took the lead as the two strikers combined effectively again. Paul McDougall worked his way into a clear position wide on the right of the penalty area, and swung in a cross. The ball fell slightly behind Paul McLaughlin, but the striker hit a sweet volley on the turn which flew into the corner of the net, giving Gow no.1 Stuart Wilson absolutely no chance.

 Paul McLaughlin

The Glens had numerous chances to put the game beyond their hosts after the opening goal, but the finishing touch was all that was missing. McLaughlin was at the heart of most of the threat, and he almost doubled his tally only two minutes later when he nutmegged his marker and fired in a strong shot from the edge of the area which Wilson saved on his goal-line.

It was one-way traffic at this point, and after Dickson pulled another diving save out of Wilson with a shot from  the edge of the box, he let somebody else have a shot by rolling the ball into the path of O'Keane, but again the shot was off target.

As is so often the case, if you miss your chances you pay the price. And so it happened, totally against the run of play, Lesmahagow equalised in the 41st minute. A ball over the top of the Glencairn defence saw substitute Lee Black hold off a challenge from Prunty, and after he turned inside McShane he calmly rolled the ball under McNeil to make the scoreline 1-1.

Glencairn upped the pace just before the half-time whistle, and there was a controversial moment when McLaughlin won a race for the ball with Gow goalkeeper Wilson, dribbled round him and went to the ground under the challenge. It looked like a penalty to most in the crowd, but the referee ruled that the striker had dived and produced a yellow card. If McLaughlin had stayed on his feet he simply had to roll the ball into the net, so you really have to ask why he would want to dive in those circumstances, and he seemed genuinely baffled by the decision.

Half-time : 1-1

There was a blow for The Glens at the interval as experienced defender Prunty, who had been injured during the build-up to Lesmahagow's goal just before the break, had to be substituted and was replaced by David Barr.

Just as Glencairn had a golden chance to take the lead in the first minute of the game, Lesmahagow had a similar opportunity in the opening minute of the second half. A long ball bounced over the heads of both McShane and Barr, and Gow striker Ross McGeachie found the ball at his feet clean through on goal, but he pulled his shot wide of the post.

This time Lesmahagow were made to pay for their missed chance, as The Glens went straight up the park and took the lead again. Dickson sent in a teasing cross from the edge of the penalty area, and Paul McDougall cleverly got himself in between the two Gow central defenders and headed the ball past Wilson to put Glencairn 2-1 ahead.

 Paul McDougall

Once again The Glens pushed forward to try to kill the game off, and in the 57th minute it looked like they had done just that. McDougall's cross caused confusion in the Gow defence, and as Wilson and James Moore both failed to clear the danger, the ball fell perfectly for Tony Fraser to fire the ball decisively back across goal and into the corner of the net to make it 3-1.

 Tony Fraser

The lead was almost increased a few moments later when a sweet move involving Craig Palmer and once again McLaughlin ended with O'Keane firing over the bar after a run from deep. But anybody who thought the game was over as a contest at that point was about to be proved very wrong. Lesmahagow hauled themselves right back into the match in the 61st minute when Lee Black found some space in the penalty area to glance a header into the corner of the net after an excellent cross by Andrew Brown, and suddenly it was 3-2.

Suddenly it was the Central District League side who were looking the more likely to score, and after Ross McGeachie had turned McShane and fired narrowly over, Black had a golden chance to level the scores and complete his hat-trick as he ran clean through on goal. However, Glens no.1 Steven McNeil raced from his line to make an excellent block with his legs to clear the danger.

David Barr almost increased Glencairn's lead in the 75th minute when Fraser's curling free kick was dummied by McLaughlin, but the defender's volley hit the outside of the post and went out for a goal kick. The woodwork came to the rescue again for Gow five minutes later when Paul McDougall smacked an angled shot from the edge of the area off Wilson's left-hand post, and you began to sense that there was a sucker punch coming at the other end.

It almost arrived in the 82nd minute when Sullivan got in behind the Glencairn defence, but once again McNeil made himself big and blocked the shot to safety. Gow defender Jamie McDougall fired narrowly over the bar as the home side pushed forward for an attempted equaliser in the closing stages, and McNeil was quickly off his line again in the 85th minute to clear the danger at the feet of Ross McGeachie.

Craig Palmer involved in a second half Glencairn attack.

As the home side pushed forward more and more they left gaps at the back for The Glens to expose, and as McLaughlin ran through on the right he tried to tee the ball up for Fraser, but his square ball was blocked and the chance was gone.

Despite the late pressure and the referee adding on a ridiculous six minutes of injury time, The Glens saw the game out and progressed to round three. Co-manager Scott Smith was relieved to have come through a potentially tricky tie. He said, "It was a poor performance, and we're not defending well, but we're in the next round. We can't get pretty football every week, the important thing is that we're in the hat for the next round."

Lesmahagow Juniors :- Wilson, Brown, Scott McGeachie, Jamie McDougall, Cunningham, Bell (Jordan Moore), Murdoch (Black), James Moore (Cairns), Easton, Ross McGeachie, Sullivan. (Subs not used - Logan, McLaren and Stewart Thomson (gk).)

Rutherglen Glencairn :- McNeil, Hadden, Palmer, Prunty (Barr), McShane, Dickson, Paul Thomson (McArdle), O'Keane (Gentile), McLaughlin, Paul McDougall, Fraser. (Subs not used - McGladrigan, Burke, Hopkins and Samushonga (gk).)

Man of the match - (Chosen by Alan Rae) Paul McLaughlin was at the heart of most of Glencairn's attacking moves in the match, and his finish for the opening goal was superb. Steven McNeil deserves a mention for the second week in a row for some important saves late in the game.

Monday 26th October 2009 - Friendly match

(Report by Peter Ferguson)

Ryan McArdle

Glencairn made eight changes to the starting line-up from the previous match against Kilsyth Rangers for this friendly match, giving most of the players in the big squad some much needed time on the pitch. In the end it was a useful fitness exercise against a young Queen's Park side.

The opening period saw the senior side dominating play without really creating clear-cut chances, the best effort being a curling free kick which was well saved by Charlie Samushonga in the Glencairn goal. Queen's Park striker Michael Daly was the main danger man for The Glens' defence and he glanced a free header wide from 8 yards out.

As the first half developed though, The Glens came much more into the game and created the best chances to score. A surging run by Chris Hopkins ended with a slipped pass to Stephen O'Keane who fired the ball over the bar.

Chances kept coming for The Glens as half-time approached. Firstly Burke fired over after Carr had beaten the offside trap and squared to him, and then the Spiders' goalkeeper made an excellent block to deny O'Keane after the impressive Ryan McArdle had set him up.

At the other end Daly was again off target with a back post header before play swung back towards the Queen's Park goal. David Carr showed good footwork to dribble his way past two challenges on the bye line, but his effort on goal was blocked away for a corner.

McArdle was the architect again just before the interval when a strong run at the heart of the Spiders' defence ended with a clever slipped pass into the path of Paul McDougall, but once again the home goalkeeper made an excellent block to keep the score blank at the interval.

Half-time : 0-0

The second half was a different story, and The Glens never really got going the way they had in the first half. Queen's Park took the lead in the 55th minute when Glencairn were caught out defensively when David Barr was off the park for treatment. The centre half was actually on his way back onto the pitch but couldn't get back into position in time to stop Queen's Park striker Michael Daly getting a free header which ended in the back of the net despite Samushonga's attempted save with his feet.

Barr went off injured shortly afterwards and was replaced in central defence by Chris Gentile, meaning The Glens now had two makeshift defenders in the team, with Tony Fraser also at left back. It was no surprise when Queen's Park doubled their lead after 64 minutes, Paul McGinn bulleting a header past Samushonga from a corner.

The Glens almost struck back straight away when Richie Burke found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper on the angle of the penalty area, but the goalkeeper stood up well to block the shot away for a corner.

Richie Burke went close again when McArdle's free kick was only partially cleared by the Spiders' defence, and Burke headed the loose ball towards goal, but the effort didn't have much power and was saved easily. A minute later Paul McDougall swivelled away from his marker and fired in a left foot shot which flew narrowly wide of the post.

The Glens made a string of substitutions as the game moved into the final quarter, and top goalscorer Paul McLaughlin pulled a save out of the Queen's Park no.1 with a shot from 20 yards with 10 minutes remaining.

The game was finally wrapped up for the home side in the 83rd minute when Queen's Park got in behind the left side of the Glencairn defence, and the square ball across goal was tapped into the net by Michael O'Hara from 2 yards out.

Team :- Samushonga, Hadden, Fraser, McShane, Barr (Gentile), Hopkins (Dickson), McArdle (Thomson), O'Keane, McDougall (McGladrigan), Carr (McLaughlin), Burke. (Sub not used - McNeil (gk).)

Man of the match - (Chosen by Peter Ferguson) Ryan McArdle made his first starting appearance for a while and did his chances of selection no harm at all with a busy and energetic performance, which was acknowledged by the management team as he left the park with 12 minutes remaining.

Saturday 24th October 2009 - Stagecoach West Region Super League Division One

(Report by Peter Ferguson)

Stephen McGladrigan is congratulated by his team-mates after scoring the equaliser.

If anybody doubted the determination and team spirit in the Glencairn squad at the moment, those doubts would have been well and truly destroyed after watching this 90 minutes.

The Glens were away from home against the team 3rd in the league table, and had to battle back from being reduced to 10 men after only ten minutes and a goal down after 19 minutes. In the end it was nearly three points travelling back to Rutherglen, but nobody in the healthy crowd at Duncansfield Park was complaining at a share of the points after a terrific encounter.

There were three changes to the Glencairn line-up from last week's win over Maryhill, with strikers Paul McLaughlin and Stephen McGladrigan recalled at the expense of David Carr and Paul McDougall, and in the centre of midfield Chris Gentile was preferred to Stephen O'Keane.

The major talking point of the afternoon was the performance of referee Mr Scott Love, and it's fair to say that most people connected to Glencairn left the ground disappointed with many of the decisions made by the man in the middle today. The first of those contentious decisions came in the 7th minute when Tony Fraser cut into the left side of the penalty area and went down under a challenge from Mark Murray. Fraser was certain it was a penalty, but the referee indicated that Murray had played the ball. But instead of giving a penalty or a corner kick, he awarded a goal kick, and the Glencairn bench were not slow in making their displeasure clear.

Only three minutes later came the most controversial moment of the match. Glens' central defender Lee McShane was late with a challenge on Kilsyth striker Ryan Waters out on the touchline. It was a foul, and possibly a booking, but incredibly Mr Love decided that the foul was worthy of a straight red card, and The Glens were reduced to ten men with a massive 80 minutes remaining to be played. Again the Glencairn bench were not slow to express their anger at the decision, and co-manager Scott Smith was sent to the dressing rooms after a prolonged debate with the referee.

 Lee McShane

The controversy continued in the 16th minute when Paul McLaughlin appeared to be hauled down on the 6-yard line in a crowd of players, and once again Mr Love waved play on. Kilsyth broke away and almost scored with Glencairn short-numbered defensively, but Kilsyth striker Chris Zok glanced his header just over the crossbar.

It seemed a long way back for The Glens when Kilsyth Rangers took the lead in the 19th minute. Left winger Darren Dalrymple had caught the eye early on with his trickery, and he showed a great piece of skill to cut inside from the left and unleash a fierce shot which flew into the roof of the net past Glencairn goalkeeper Steven McNeil before he could even move, and it was 1-0.

The away support were wondering what was happening out on the pitch when Glens midfielder Chris Gentile was shown a yellow card by Mr Love after a foul had been given in his favour. The Kilsyth player who committed the foul wasn't even spoken to.

To be fair to co-manager Willie Patterson, he resisted the temptation to change the team structure to protect the defence in the absence of McShane, and instead he kept two players up front and four in midfield, instead tucking full backs Hadden and Palmer into a back three and asking wide midfielders Thomson and Fraser to work both flanks to the full, which they did willingly. The defence was also protected well by the hard-working Gentile, who seemed to be on a mission to cover every blade of grass inside the 90 minutes.

Paul McLaughlin takes on the Kilsyth defence in the first half.

It took a while for the team to re-adjust to three at the back, and Kilsyth had a flurry of chances to increase their lead arond the half-hour mark. Lee Sichi fired a volley into the side netting on the stretch after a deep cross by Dalrymple. Then Glens' defender Kenny Hadden misjudged a bouncing ball, giving Zok a chance to set up Dalrymple, but McNeil made an excellent save down low to keep Glencairn in the match. Stephen McPeake had the next chance to increase Kilsyth's lead, but he sent his free header wide of the post from only 8 yards out when a goal seemed certain.

The Glens managed to re-group though, and started to work their way back into the match as the interval approached. Sichi was yellow carded for a crude challenge on Tony Fraser as the Glens midfielder surged forward, but Mr Love ignored the Glencairn fans' shouts for a red card and showed yellow instead.

Just before the half-time whistle Glencairn created two great chances to equalise. First of all Gentile surged forward and slipped a brilliant pass through to McLaughlin, but the striker's left foot shot was sliced narrowly wide of the post. And with almost the final move of the first half Fraser linked well with McGladrigan on the edge of the penalty area, but Fraser pulled his shot wide of the post also.

Half-time : 1-0

Kilsyth's normally deadly striker Chris Zok had been troubling the Glens rearguard, but he seemed to be having an off-day with his finishing today, much to the visitors' relief. Zok was shown the yellow card in the 50th minute when he handled the ball in an aerial challenge with McNeil, and five minutes later Zok sent another free header wide of the post.

The Glens were still competing well, with the restructured defence standing strong and the midfield to front set-up unchanged from kick-off. And Glencairn got their reward in the 57th minute when they equalised with an excellent team goal. A long ball from the back was flicked on by McLaughlin, Thomson latched onto the loose ball and cleverly fed it into the path of striker Stephen McGladrigan, and he wasted no time in clipping the ball past Kilsyth keeper Michael Duke. The goal was deserved and the players celebrated the strike as a squad (picture above).

 Stephen McGladrigan

Kilsyth tried to re-establish their lead quickly, and again it was Zok who was the danger man, with McNeil making another fine save down low to his left as the striker hit his shot on the turn from an angle at close range.

The game was flowing from end to end now, and everybody inside the ground thought Glens' substitute Stephen O'Keane had put the ten men in front when he was brilliantly set up by McGladrigan for a shot, but the ball slipped inches wide of Duke's left hand post with the keeper well beaten.

McNeil produced another good save to keep out Murray's header from a Kilsyth corner, and then play flew once again to the other end. Fraser was released through on goal on the left, and instead of rolling the ball across to McGladrigan he took an extra touch, giving Kilsyth substitute Scott just enough time to get back to block the danger.

The end to end nature continued, and every attack produced danger for the respective defences. First of all Duke fumbled a McGladrigan shot into the path of Thomson, and when the Glens wide man slipped the ball to McGladrigan again the shot across goal was off target and too hard for anybody to connect with. Back the ball went to the other end, and once again it was Zok who was on the end of the chance, heading wide of McNeil's right hand post on the stretch.

As the full time whistle approached, The Glens finally went into a more defensive shape to ensure they didn't lose the game, and hard-working striker McLaughlin was replaced by defender David Barr as the shape changed to a strong 4-4-1. McGladrigan was tasked with using his blistering pace to chase everything up front, which he did as willlingly as ever, taking the pressure off the defence.

With the extra man, Kilsyth predictably had the bulk of the pressure as the game drew to a close, but Glencairn defended as if their lives depended on it, and when they did get through the back line they found Steven McNeil impossible to pass. The stopper made an excellent block with his feet to deny Kilsyth defender Tough on the angle of the 6-yard box, and that was the moment that secured what could be a very valuable point for The Glens.

Scott Smith was pleased with what he had seen from the door of the dressing room from the 10th minute onwards. He commented, "We showed some true grit today, and a great team spirit. Our attitude was first class."

Kilsyth Rangers :- Duke, Murray, Michael Carr, Doyle, Tough, McGinty (Scott), Sichi (Kelly), McPeake, Zok, Waters (Martin), Dalrymple. (Subs not used - Williamson, Bowers, Neville and O'Boyle.)

Rutherglen Glencairn :- McNeil, Hadden, Palmer, Prunty, McShane, Gentile, Thomson, Dickson (O'Keane), McLaughlin (Barr), McGladrigan, Fraser. (Subs not used - McDougall, David Carr, Hopkins, Burke and Samushonga (gk).)

Referee :- Mr Scott Love.

Man of the match - (Chosen by Peter Ferguson) Chris Gentile worked tremendously hard all afternoon and left the field exhausted at the final whistle having given everything he had, and he gets this week's award. Special mentions go to goalkeeper Steven McNeil and strikers Stephen McGladrigan and Paul McLaughlin, although to be fair the team didn't have a failure.

 Chris Gentile

Saturday 17th October 2009 - New Coin Automatics West of Scotland Cup Round One

(Report by Peter Ferguson)

Stephen O'Keane threatens the Maryhill defence in the first half.

The Glens started out on their 79th attempt to win the only cup the club has never won, the West of Scotland Cup, with a comfortable win against the team that Glencairn had met in its first ever match in the competition in 1931. Back then, the match had to be replayed after being abandoned six minutes from time with The Glens 2-1 ahead, as fans spilled onto the pitch. The replayed match saw Maryhill win 2-1 in the 1st round tie.

There was little prospect of a repeat of the events of that day this afternoon at Lochburn Park. For starters, the high walls now surrounding the pitch at Maryhill's home ground keep the fans well away from the playing surface ! And the relative form of both sides going into this match suggested that an away win was the likely outcome. The bookies certainly thought that way, with The Glens quoted at 4/11 to win and a home win priced at 5/1.

Glencairn co-managers Willie Patterson and Scott Smith took the opportunity once again to shuffle the pack with their big playing squad. On-form strikers Paul McLaughlin and Stephen McGladrigan were rested and much-needed playing time was given to Paul McDougall and David Carr instead. There was also a starting place for Richie Burke at the expense of Tony Fraser. But the Glencairn fans were most delighted to see the return to the club of experienced central defender Jamie Prunty, who slotted back into his old no. 4 jersey as if he'd never been away.

The game took some time to get going and it was the home side who had the territorial advantage in the opening stages, but Glencairn were defending comfortably and goalkeeper Steven McNeil wasn't called into action. It took until the 15th minute of the game before The Glens had a serious attempt on goal, but when it arrived it was effective and clinical.

The move started on the halfway line when left back Craig Palmer sent a diagonal pass to David Carr on the edge of the penalty area. Carr laid the ball off to Stephen O'Keane, who dragged the ball past his opponent, turned and fired a firm shot into the corner of the net past the outstretched arm of Maryhill goalkeeper Kevin Montgomery. O'Keane celebrated the goal with a little dance which clearly meant something significant to the members of the Glencairn squad.

 Stephen O'Keane

Montgomery came to the home side's rescue in the 19th minute as The Glens looked to double their lead. Paul Thomson's cross from the right was met by the head of Richie Burke but Montgomery dived to his left to make a good save.

At the other end, Steven McNeil was continuing to be well protected by the defence in front of him, well marshalled by Prunty, and with right back Kenny Hadden looking particularly impressive. But McNeil had to be on his toes in the 25th minute, and the whole ground applauded as he made an impressive save to tip Craig Ferguson's left foot drive over the crossbar.

As the first half developed, Maryhill were pressed back further and further as Glencairn dominated possession and territory as they tried to kill the tie off before the interval. Montgomery tipped the ball off Burke's head as he looked set to score a back-post header, and O'Keane tested the 'Hill stopper with a dipping volley which he saved comfortably. The pressure continued as O'Keane once again went close, taking a pass from a quick free kick and firing a shot narrowly wide of Montgomery's left-hand post.

The pressure paid off in the 42nd minute, and once again O'Keane was involved as he won a 50/50 chase with Montgomery. The midfielder laid the ball back to the edge of the penalty area to Richie Burke, and with Montgomery still out of position Burke fired a firm shot into the net from 16 yards out to make the score 2-0 to Glencairn.

 Richie Burke

The game was effectively killed as a contest three minutes later when The Glens scored a classic counter-attack goal right on the stroke of half-time. The ball broke out of defence and Carr held the ball up well to allow players to break forward at pace. Carr played a terrific pass out wide to the overlapping Hadden on the right. Hadden appeared to stumble over the ball and miss it completely as he tried to cross, but he managed to keep his feet and his concentration long enough to recover and send over a perfect deep cross, and Glencairn players were queuing up at the back post to apply the finishing touch. Paul Thomson was the best-placed player and he rose unchallenged on the 6-yard line to head into the net to put The Glens 3-0 ahead.

Lee McShane and Kenny Hadden try to get on the end of another first half attack.

Half-time : 0-3

With the game seemingly already in the bag, The Glens made a couple of changes at the interval, with the injured Richie Burke being replaced by Tony Fraser and captain Davie Dickson wrapped in cotton wool and replaced by his young understudy Chris Hopkins, who once again caught the eye with a calm and composed performance in the engine room of the team. Maryhill also made a change, with right back Ross Barr being replaced by Mark Maxwell as they changed formation to a back three instead of the four that they started with.

Maxwell was involved almost instantly as he cleared the ball off the line in the 47th minute after Montgomery missed an inswinging corner from Fraser. The Glens were still playing with loads of confidence and cutting Maryhill open at the back with Fraser particularly prominent on the left. Hopkins tested Montgomery with a curling free kick in the 53rd minute which was saved easily. David Carr was withdrawn by The Glens as top goalscorer Paul McLaughlin was introduced to the action.

Inevitably though, with such a comfortable lead, Glencairn took their foot off the pedal somewhat as the hour mark approached, and Maryhill began to get some joy in offensive areas. Patrick Gallagher hit a shot on the turn from 25 yards which McNeil saved easily, and then Leyton Slack was given space on the edge of the area to fire in a shot which flew harmlessly wide of the post.

Maryhill got their reward for their spell of pressure midway through the second half. Glencairn's defence had been pretty solid throughout, but Lee McShane and Craig Palmer failed to clear a loose ball inside the area and it fell conveniently in front of Maryhill striker Patrick Gallagher, and he wasted no time in firing the ball under McNeil to make the score 3-1.

The Glens had a golden chance to re-establish their 3-goal lead almost immediately when Paul McLaughlin and Paul McDougall combined cleverly to set up Tony Fraser on the 6-yard line, but Fraser fired his right-foot effort wildly over the crossbar when he should have burst the net.

That miss could have come back to haunt Glencairn a few minutes later when Palmer was short with a back pass, but McNeil came to the rescue as he raced sharply from his line to block the threat from Maxwell with his legs.

Tony Fraser made up for his miss in the 78th minute when he set up Glencairn's 4th and killer goal. Fraser started the move wide on the left as he slipped a pass in to Paul McDougall, who returned the compliment to Fraser as he had continued his run. The wide man's pace saw him run away from his marker and he rolled the ball across the face of goal where Paul Thomson had made a great supporting run, and he had the simple task of tapping the ball into the net from 6 yards out for his second goal of the game and his 4th goal in the last 4 games.

 Paul Thomson

That ended Maryhill's resistance, although they did go close with a couple of minutes to go, when there was a loud shout for a penalty when Hadden cleared the ball off the line with his shoulder after McNeil had only partly cleared a cross ball. The referee waved away the appeals of the home side, and the match ended shortly afterwards with The Glens moving comfortably into the 2nd round draw.

Scott Smith was upbeat after the match, and he commented "It was a good professional performance from us. We did better at the back, we only really had one mistake. But we made five changes to the team and still looked much better than Maryhill. Thomson can't stop scoring and the front two did well. It's also good to see Stephen O'Keane keeping up his scoring form."

Maryhill :- Montgomery, Barr (Maxwell), Wright, McGoldrick, McInnes, Slack (Banks), Sideserf, Ferguson, Gallagher, Stanley, Scobie. (Subs not used - Chiesa, Fraser and Calder (gk).)

Rutherglen Glencairn :- McNeil, Hadden, Palmer, Prunty, McShane, Dickson (Hopkins), Thomson, O'Keane, McDougall, Carr (McLaughlin), Burke (Fraser). (Subs not used - McGladrigan, Gentile, Barr and Trialist (gk).)

Man of the match - (Chosen by Sam Totten) Kenny Hadden produced a composed defensive performance and also got involved in several attacking moves, setting up the 3rd goal just before the interval. Special praise was also reserved for the 2nd-half performance of Chris Hopkins.

 Kenny Hadden

Saturday 10th October 2009 - Stagecoach West Region Super League Division One

(Report by Jim Keith)

Glencairn's goalscorers Paul Thomson, Stephen McGladrigan and Paul McLaughlin.

The Glens won this battle of the promoted teams to keep up their fine start to the season. Paul Mclaughlin’s second half goal was enough to ensure the points stayed in Rutherglen after a pulsating tie writes Jim Keith.

Glens welcomed back skipper Davie Dickson, Tony Fraser, Davie Barr and Paul Thomson to the line-up after their rest period last week in the demolition of Luncarty in the Scottish Cup. And indeed it was Dickson who had the best opportunity in the opening 10 minutes. He met a McGladrigan pass on the volley but the ball flashed just wide.

On 26 minutes Ashfield’s Tony Chalmers sent over a long, looping ball from the right-hand side which narrowly cleared Glens’ right-hand post, with Glens’ keeper McNeill watching anxiously. At this point also Ashfield had to make an enforced substitution, with Jim Smith coming on for the injured Jamie Reilly.

The first goal of the game came in 28 minutes courtesy of a deflected shot. The ball came across Glens’ area and right-winger Tony Chalmers shot at goal. Left-back Palmer, in his attempt to close the winger down, got a wicked deflection off the left-hand side of his body and the ball landed straight into the net, with McNeill having no chance.

Minutes later a Paul McLaughlin  free kick was straight at the Ashfield keeper before Ashfield winger Chalmers, cutting in from the right, hit a good left-foot shot just over Glens’ bar.

To their credit, Glens were moving forward at every opportunity and finally got their reward with the equaliser in 35 minutes. Good interplay down Glens’ left-hand side between Fraser and McLaughlin saw Fraser crossing a lovely ball into the danger area and Paul Thomson, waiting on the right-hand side of the box, expertly dispatching the ball low and hard into the net for a deserved leveller.

Two minutes later the Glens’ fans were delighted to see their side go 2-1 up. The hard-working Chris Gentile controlled the ball and slid a sliderule pass through the middle of Ashfield’s defence for striker Stephen McGladrigan to run onto, and he made no mistake in slotting the ball past Prior.

Two minutes before half-time there was a clash in midfield between Palmer and Chalmers, not for the first time, that resulted in bookings for both players. From the resulting Ashfield free kick, Mark Thompson floated a cross ball into Glens’ box and Paul Maxwell, known for his aerial prowess, rose unmarked and guided a good header into Glens’ net to once again make the game all square at half-time.

Two minutes after the restart, Gentile became the third booking of the game after what was deemed by referee Mr Wake to be a high-boot challenge on Maxwell. Ashfield’s keeper Prior was next into the ref’s book for protesting too much about the award of the corner.

On the hour mark, Glens brought on Richie Burke in place of left-back Palmer, who appeared to be carrying a back injury. Both teams were competing well but on 62 minutes Glens took the lead and also what proved to be the winner.

Paul McLaughlin gathered a Fraser pass inside the box, worked the ball onto his right-hand side and, looking up, fired a low shot from 12 yards past Prior. Glens were certainly looking strong and confident now and were restricting Ashfield to very few penalty-box chances.

On 72 minutes a good angled drive by McGladrigan flew past Prior’s right-hand post from 16 yards. McGladrigan, who had worked hard up front, was replaced by Paul McDougall shortly after, to keep the pressure on Ashfield’s defence.

Paul McLaughlin then saw a shot from inside the box well saved by Prior, who parried the ball over the bar. On 82 minutes a shot from sub McDougall from 18 yards was well held low down by Prior, while the same player hit the side netting moments later when a cross would have been a better option.

Ryan McArdle was then brought in for the final few minutes in place of Paul McLaughlin, who appeared to have an injury to his shin. Glens saw out the game safely as Ashfield appeared to run out of ideas. In fact, throughout they had rarely threatened from open play, but Glens had looked a little uncomfortable from set-pieces.

This was a extremely gutsy win for the Glens and keeps things ticking along nicely. On the strength of their second-half showing, not many observers would deny that the team deserved all three points.

Team :- McNeil, Hadden, Palmer (Burke), McShane, Barr, Dickson, Thomson, Gentile, McLaughlin (McArdle), McGladrigan (McDougall), Fraser. (Subs not used - Trialist (gk), Hopkins, Carr, Kerr.)

Saturday 3rd October 2009 - Emirates Airlines Scottish Junior Cup Round One

(Report by Peter Ferguson)

Stephen McGladrigan goes close with a first half effort.

The Glens created some new club history today, with the 9-goal winning margin being the biggest margin of victory for the club in the Scottish Junior Cup. The previous record had been in place since 9-1 wins over Dundee Anchorage in 1941 and Islavale in 1979.

The Glens have actually scored more goals in a single Scottish Junior Cup match though, having beaten Scone Thistle 10-4 in 2000. Nine was the total today, but it could have been so many more, as there were three other goals disallowed and lots of great chances missed. I could be here all night writing this report if I was to comment on all of the goalscoring opportunities in the match, so I'll restrict it as far as possible to the moments that mattered !

There were three changes to the starting XI for Glencairn after the 4-0 friendly win last Monday, but the bench was filled with seven players who all would be candidates for starting places in most matches, and there were no places even on the bench for David Carr, Jamie White, Chris Hughes and Davie Turner, such is the strength of the current squad at The Clyde Gateway Stadium.

It took a while for the home side to get into its stride and the visitors were clearly up for the occasion, competing well and taking the game to The Glens in the early stages, without testing Steven McNeil in the Glencairn goal. When the Rutherglen side got going though, it was clear that they were going to cut Luncarty open at will. The pace of the the front pairing of Stephen McGladrigan and Paul McLaughlin had created four great chances between them to break the deadlock, but all of them were squandered due to a mixture of poor finishing and excellent goalkeeping by Luncarty stopper Scott Christie.

Just as frustration was beginning to set in, Glencairn took the lead after 19 minutes. A cross ball into the box was only partially cleared by the Luncarty defence, and the ball fell loose inside the penalty area. First to react was midfielder Chris Hopkins, who fired the ball firmly past Christie to make it 1-0.

 Chris Hopkins is congratulated on his opening strike.

The chances kept coming, and Christie made two more saves from McLaughlin as he single-handedly kept the score respectable at that point. The lead was doubled to 2-0 after 29 minutes though, when McLaughlin's angled shot was parried onto the post by Christie, only for the ball to fall kindly into the path of Stephen McGladrigan, who took a touch before firing into the net.

 Stephen McGladrigan

Chance after chance kept coming in the one-way traffic towards the Luncarty goal, and it was 3-0 after 31 minutes. A short corner saw Richie Burke combine with Jack Henry, and the wide man worked his way to the edge of the penalty area and fired the ball towards goal. The ball was flicked on its way into the net by Lee McShane for the finishing touch. Big Lee is telling me it's his goal and he meant it, and that's good enough for me. He's bigger than me.

 Lee McShane

Luncarty's first serious attempt on goal came after 32 minutes when a shot from distance by Josh Kelly saw McNeil save comfortably on his goal line. Play immediately flowed to the other end of the park and Christie made another good save to deny Glens midfielder Richie Burke's shot. Christie made another point-blank save from McGladrigan before McLaughlin was denied by a goal-line clearance by Luncarty defender James Ross after he had dribbled round Christie.

Luncarty came close to pulling a goal back after 37 minutes, and McNeil had to show that his concentration was switched on as he tipped Peter McLaren's curling free kick over the bar. As half-time approached, though, The Glens upped the pace again and put the game out of sight for the visitors. Another passing move cut through the Luncarty defence like a hot knife through butter, and Paul McLaughlin finally got on the scoresheet with a composed lobbed finish over Christie from 16 yards out to make the score 4-0.

 Paul McLaughlin

Just before the interval the score was increased to 5-0 when Stephen McGladrigan ran clear of the defence on the left of the penalty area, cut inside two defenders and fired a firm shot past Christie into the roof of the net for his second goal of the afternoon.

Half-time : 5-0

The talk at the interval was whether The Glens would go on to break the club's all-time record victories (11-0 v Westburn Hopehill in 1898, 11-0 v Petershill in 1899, and 12-1 v Dunipace in 1967). Perhaps if the team hadn't taken 19 minutes to open the scoring in the first half, and then taken 15 minutes into the second half to start scoring again, the records would have been in danger, but it's hard to complain about today's final outcome !

McGladrigan had two opportunities to complete his hat-trick early in the second half and he was unfortunate not to have converted with his shot after 55 minutes, which was on its way into the net until it hit team-mate Chris Gentile and flew wide. Jack Henry also fired in a fierce free kick which flew inches wide of Christie's right-hand post.

The goals started to flow again on the hour mark, though, and Richie Burke was next to find the net as he skipped past his marker on the edge of the box and fired a rising angled shot which flew into the top corner of the net to make it 6-0.

 Richie Burke

Burke almost scored a carbon copy goal ten minutes later but fired his shot narrowly over the crossbar. But it took only a couple more minutes for The Glens to increase their lead, and it was probably the best goal of the game. Tony Fraser's pace saw him get to the ball in front of Christie on the angle of the penalty area, and his chipped and curled finish was just perfect as it dropped into the centre of the net. It was a brilliant finish.

 Tony Fraser

McGladrigan had been substituted by now, and his replacement Paul McDougall was unfortunate to see a goal disallowed as he appeared to win a 50/50 challenge with Christie and roll the ball into the net, but the referee chalked the goal off for a foul by the striker on the goalkeeper. There was more frustration for the record-hunters only two minutes later when McLaughlin's tap-in was disallowed for offside.

But the home support didn't have long to wait for the 8th goal, as once again Paul McLaughlin showed his pace to run away from the Luncarty defence, and this time his precise finish found its way into the postage-stamp corner of the net.

Paul McDougall's frustration at another disallowed goal for offside saw the striker's name go into the referee's book after 84 minutes as the ever-competitive striker saw his fellow strikers pull away from him in the top goalscorer stakes.

There was no stopping McLaughlin though, and after Luncarty defender Craig McPhail had cleared an effort off the goal line from Glencairn's top goalscorer, it was Paul McLaughlin again who rounded off the scoring in the final minute as he once again burst away from the defence, dribbled round Christie and simply rolled the ball into the empty net for a well-deserved hat-trick.

Glencairn co-manager Scott Smith was keen to play down the result. "There's not much you can take from that today, apart from letting us give a few players who needed a run-out some good time on the pitch."

Rutherglen Glencairn :- McNeil, Kerr, Palmer, Hadden, McShane (Fraser), Gentile, Henry (Thomson), Hopkins, McGladrigan (McDougall), McLaughlin, Burke. (Subs not used - Dickson, Barr, O'Keane and McArdle.)

Luncarty :- Christie, McLean, Howie, McPhail, Ross, Kelly, Wallace (Robertson), Meechan (Hampton), McLaren, Haire, Leishman. (Sub not used - Nicoll.)

Man of the match - (Chosen by match ball sponsor Davie Belshaw) Chris Hopkins started the goal scoring and hardly wasted a pass all afternoon, having a hand in several of the goals. It was an excellent performance from the young central midfielder.

 Chris Hopkins

Monday 28th September 2009 - Friendly match

(Report by Peter Ferguson)

 Man of the match Chris Hopkins.

With the Glasgow holiday weekend meaning most local junior teams were idle on Saturday, The Glens took advantage of the floodlights at The Clyde Gateway Stadium to arrange a friendly match against Stagecoach Central District League Division One side Larkhall Thistle on Monday. It turned out to be a useful run-out for the squad, with several players who were short on recent match action getting some time on the pitch.

Interested spectators in the crowd were the managers of Ashfield and Blantyre Victoria, both on spying missions to watch sides in their respective leagues. But it's difficult to say how much information Ashfield manager Stevie Rankin will have gained from this match ahead of their clash with The Glens in 12 days, with Glencairn making no fewer than nine changes to the starting XI that had recently beaten league leaders Glenafton Athletic. Included in the side was a trialist goalkeeper and there was a starting place after long-term injury for striker Stephen McGladrigan.

The Glens were sharper all over the park than their lower league opponents for the majority of the match, and that was clear from the very first minute of the game when the home side took the lead with their first effort on goal. Richie Burke cut inside from the left touchline and unleashed an unsaveable shot over the head of Larkhall keeper Kevin Budinauckas and into the roof of the net to make it 1-0 to Glencairn.

 Richie Burke

The game looked as if it was going to be effectively killed as a contest after five minutes when McGladrigan was fouled in the box by Thistle defender Patrick Keenan, and the referee pointed to the penalty spot. The usually reliable Tony Fraser struck his penalty effort well, but Budinauckas made a terrific full-length diving save to his left to parry the ball to safety.

In the 9th minute McGladrigan showed he has lost none of his blistering pace as he ran away from the Thistle defence after a delightful pass by Chris Hopkins, but the striker's finishing needs sharpening as he pulled his shot wide of the left-hand post from 16 yards out. A carbon-copy move only six minutes later ended with a similar outcome, and Glencairn found themselves only one goal ahead when the game really should have been out of sight by that point.

Thistle's first serious attempt on goal came after 20 minutes when Joseph Shields curled a free kick from 25 yards narrowly over the bar, but Glencairn's trialist keeper appeared to have the effort well covered.

The Glens doubled their lead on the half-hour mark. Jack Henry swung in a deep cross to the back post, where Richie Burke rose unmarked to send an accurate header back over Budinauckas for his and Glencairn's second goal of the match. Three minutes later it was almost a hat-trick for Burke with a carbon-copy move to the 2nd goal, with Budinauckas this time tipping Burke's header over the bar.

Larkhall were showing little of goal threat, but there was a brief moment of concern for The Glens after 35 minutes when David Menelaws got in behind Steven Kerr and fired across the face of goal, but there were no supporting players in the middle to apply the finishing touch and the ball ran to safety for the home side.

Budinauckas was called into action yet again just before half-time, incredibly from another Burke header from a Henry cross, and from the resulting corner McGladrigan had the ball in the net only for the goal to be disallowed for a foul on Budinauckas by Glencairn defender Lee McShane.

Richie Burke was obviously in the mood and keen to try and complete a first-half hat-trick as he danced past Keenan again and fired a fierce shot towards goal which flew narrowly wide.

Half-time : 2-0

There were personnel changes at the interval for both sides, but it didn't change the flow of the game at all as The Glens kept on the front foot and took the game to their visitors. Paul Thomson had replaced Burke at the break, and he almost increased the lead in the 48th minute when he pounced on a loose ball on the edge of the penalty area but pulled his shot just wide.

It just wasn't Stephen McGladrigan's night in front of goal, and that was summed up in the 54th minute. Hopkins produced another delightful pass from midfield which released Henry on the right, and the winger's cross was headed back across goal by Tony Fraser onto the head of McGladrigan on the 6-yard line, but the striker incredibly headed the ball against the post when it seemed easier to score.

Larkhall were still showing the occasional threat and hadn't given up the game, and James Earlie fired narrowly wide in the 62nd minute. A minute later Henry again set up McGladrigan for a close-range effort which was well saved again by Budinauckas. McGladrigan was then replaced by Paul McDougall after a hard-working but frustrating night for the striker.

It didn't take long for the substitute to show the way to goal as Glencairn went 3-0 ahead after 70 minutes. A swinging cross from Thomson found its way onto the 6-yard line where Paul McDougall placed an excellent header past Budinauckas. It was a good response by the striker to the teasing he had taken from the home support for most of the evening.

 Paul McDougall

The trialist goalkeeper didn't have a serious save to make in the match, and the closest Thistle came to testing him came after 75 minutes when Grant Wilson fired an angled shot over the bar after pouncing on a blocked shot by Menelaws.

The scoring was completed after 84 minutes when Stephen O'Keane released Tony Fraser with a pass which beat the Larkhall offside trap, and the midfielder took a touch before confidently stroking the ball into the net past Budinauckas with his right foot.

 Tony Fraser

There was a chance for The Glens to increase their lead in the dying minutes, but once again Budinauckas came to the rescue for Thistle, making an excellent diving save from O'Keane's drive from the edge of the box.

Rutherglen Glencairn :- Trialist, Kerr, Palmer (Hughes), McShane (Hadden), White, Gentile, Hopkins (O'Keane), Fraser, McGladrigan (McDougall), Henry, Burke (Thomson). (Subs not used - McArdle, McNeil (gk) and Barr.)

Larkhall Thistle :- Budinikauckas, Keenan, McInulty, Alan Shields, Carson, Kondol, Donaghy, Jospeh Shields, Earlie, Campbell, Menelaws. (Subs :- Gracie, Wylie, Paterson, Clark, Wilson, Murdoch, Potter and Shanks.)

Man of the match - (Chosen by a joint decision by Donnie Nicol, Jim Keith and Peter Ferguson) Chris Hopkins produced a composed performance in central midfield and set up several chances with some clever passing.

Saturday 12th September 2009 - Stagecoach West Region Super League Division One

(Report by Peter Ferguson)

Davie Dickson and Paul McLaughlin launch a first half Glencairn attack.

This was the biggest test so far of Glencairn's first season in the Super League set-up, with the visit of pre-kick-off league leaders Glenafton Athletic to The Clyde Gateway Stadium. And it's fair to say that the Glencairn passed the test with flying colours as they deservedly took all three points to climb up to 5th place in the table, three points behind new leaders Kilsyth Rangers, and with a game in hand.

This was the first ever "Battle of The Glens" to take place on league business, although the clubs have met a few times in cup competitions over the years. Glencairn made only one change to their starting line-up from the previous week's winning side, with Lee McShane's aerial presence being preferred at centre back to Jamie White.

The match took some time to get going as the two teams took a while to feel each other out. The first serious effort on goal came after 10 minutes when Glenafton defender Chris Merrilees fired in a free kick from 40 yards out, but Steven McNeil was untroubled in the Glencairn goal as the ball flew well wide of the target.

Glencairn's first opening came after 13 minutes when the strike partnership of Paul McLaughlin and Paul McDougall combined to open up the visitors' defence, but McDougall chose to try to set up Paul Thomson for a tap-in instead of shooting himself, and the square pass was cut out and cleared. Two minutes later Stephen O'Keane showed strength and skill to twist past two tackles inside the penalty area, and he found himself well placed to fire in a left foot shot which was parried to safety by Glenafton keeper Ally Semple.

The home side were defending well and Glenafton's goal attempts were mostly from distance. Michael Hart fired well wide when well placed on the edge of the penalty area, and then Simon Eeles sent a free kick from 30 yards out over the crossbar after 25 minutes.

Glencairn captain Davie Dickson almost turned the key to open up the Glenafton defence when he brilliantly turned away from his marker and slipped a pass through to McLaughlin, but just as the striker was picking his spot he was denied by a last-ditch sliding tackle by Gordon Moffat. The home side didn't have to wait long to make the breakthrough though, as the resulting corner was only partially cleared by the Glenafton defence and Paul Thomson pounced on the loose ball on the edge of the penalty area and sent an unsaveable shot past Semple and into the top left hand corner of the net to open the scoring for Glencairn.

 Paul Thomson

This immediately made things very interesting, as the odds-on favourites with the bookies for the match were behind, and the competitive nature of the match was summed up by four players receiving yellow cards in the next ten minutes, McArdle and Palmer for Glencairn and Feroz and Merrilees for Glenafton. To be fair, though, the match was never a bad-tempered affair and referee Mr Alan Newlands handled the players well throughout.

Ryan McArdle had a chance to increase Glencairn's lead in the 37th minute when a loose ball fell kindly for him on the penalty spot, but he snatched at his shot and sliced it wide of Semple's left hand post.

Just as the home side thought they were going to take a lead into the interval, Glenafton struck back just before the half-time whistle. Simon Eeles had tried a long-distance free kick earlier in the match, and he tried his luck again from 30 yards. This time the ball curled beautifully into the postage-stamp corner of the net, with McNeil seemingly expecting the ball to go wide, and the sides went into the changing rooms on level terms.

Half-time : 1-1

Glenafton made a change at the interval, bringing on former Hearts and St Mirren winger Jose Quitongo to replace striker Joseph Savage. Glencairn gave a vote of confidence to the starting XI and made no changes to the line-up at this stage.

Having played so well in the first half but losing that goal right at the end of it, some may have expected the Glencairn players' heads to be down at the start of the second half. But the management team had clearly worked on those negative thoughts and turned them into positive intentions, and it wasn't long before Glencairn were back in the lead. Stephen O'Keane has scored in every league game this season so far, and he kept up that record by bursting into the angle of the penalty box and firing a firm shot under the body of Semple, and Glencairn were 2-1 ahead after 49 minutes.

 Stephen O'Keane

There were chances for the Rutherglen side to increase their lead as Dickson fired over the bar after a partial clearance by Merrilees, and on the hour mark McLaughlin fired over the bar after a clever set-up pass by McDougall.

Glenafton had barely made their third and final substitution when defender Gordon Moffat went down with a heavy head knock, and after a prolonged period of treatment he was withdrawn to the bench and Glenafton played on with 10 men for five minutes before Moffat returned to the pitch. But the referee had stored up the stoppage time in his memory, and that was to prove to be significant later in the match. Glenafton subsititute Jamie McDonald was booked shortly afterwards for the latest in a series of fouls since coming onto the park as an early replacement for injured full back Chris Connolly.

Glenafton gradually began to push forward more as they tried to rescue at least a point, and after Craig Feroz had fired a free kick straight into the defensive wall, the same man sent a free header wide of the post from only 6 yards out. In between those two incidents, at the other end, David Barr sent a header narrowly wide and O'Keane had another effort on goal deflected just wide of Semple's left hand post.

The game was really stretched now and chances were coming at both ends with regularity, and it was a gripping contest. Glencairn introduced the pace of comeback man Stephen McGladrigan alongside the pace of Paul McLaughlin up front, as they tried to discourage the Glenafton defenders from pushing forward too far up the park. Paul McDougall was the man withdrawn.

Twelve minutes from the end Glencairn had a golden chance to increase their lead when Craig Palmer's up-and-under was brilliantly controlled in the penalty area by McLaughlin, but Semple stood up well and blocked the striker's angled shot from 8 yards out. A few minutes later, at the other end, McNeil made a superb diving save to spare the blushes of defender David Barr who had deflected a clearance towards his own goal.

A minute later, though, the men from New Cumnock were back level, and it was a quite clinical finish. Craig Feroz pounced on a slip in the Glencairn rearguard and lifted a perfect lob over McNeil from the edge of the penalty area, and the ball dropped into the net to make it 2-2 in the 83rd minute.

True to the nature of the game, though, neither side seemed to want to settle for a share of the points. First of all Dickson fired another shot high and wide when well placed, and then the visitors nearly snatched the points in the final minute when Quitongo's trickery set up a volley for Feroz, but the striker pulled his effort wide of McNeil's right hand post.

The referee added on a full 5 minutes of added time for the injury to Moffat and a couple of other minor stoppages, and in the 94th minute the most significant dramatic moment of the match arrived. A long ball from the back saw Glencairn striker Paul McLaughlin show his pace to get in behind the defence on the left hand angle of the penalty area, and after he cut inside his marker he calmly rolled the ball under Semple and into the net to give the home side a dramatic three points. McLaughlin removed his shirt and waved it above his head in celebration, earning a yellow card from the referee, but he didn't really care ! Before play could restart, and to kill more time, McLaughlin was substituted and replaced by Jamie White. Before the replacement could get a touch of the ball, the referee blew for full time and Glencairn celebrated their 3rd win in their 4 league matches so far this season, but one which will give the squad a lot of confidence.

 Paul McLaughlin

Co-manager Scott Smith was obviously delighted with the result, although he was keen not to get too carried away. "It was a great performance, and the win was well deserved, I can't find any faults. That was a bit more like us, although there's still work to be done at the back though."

Rutherglen Glencairn :- McNeil, Hadden, Palmer, Barr, McShane, Dickson, McArdle, O'Keane, McLaughlin (White), McDougall (McGladrigan), Thomson (Burke). (Subs not used - Carr, Henry, Hopkins and Kerr.)

Glenafton Athletic :- Semple, Connolly (McDonald), Wilson, Merrilees, Moffat, Ramsay, Eeles (Quinn), Clapperton, Savage (Quitongo), Feroz, Hart.

Man of the match - (Chosen by Scott Dunn) Paul Thomson scored a terrific opening goal and was up and down the pitch all afternoon before getting a well-deserved rest with 5 minutes left.

Saturday 12th September 2009 - Stagecoach West Region Super League Division One

(Report by Peter Ferguson)

Stephen O'Keane is congratulated by his team-mates after scoring the winning goal.

Glencairn finally got their first ever taste of home action in the Stagecoach West Region Super League Division One, and it was The Glens who secured the three points to lift them up three places in the league table to 7th, four points behind top side Glenafton Athletic but with two games in hand, and with the leaders due to visit The Clyde Gateway Stadium next Saturday.

Last season's Central District League championship flag flew over the ground for the first time as The Glens took to the field wearing their new 3rd strip of all navy for the first time. There were places in the starting XI for goalkeeper Steven McNeil, left back Craig Palmer, striker Paul McDougall and a trialist right back, as managers Willie Patterson and Scott Smith shook things up after the disappointing defeat at Renfrew in the last game a fortnight ago.

The game well and truly started with a bang ! After Whitletts' centre half Martin King and Glens' striker Paul McLaughlin had clashed heads after two minutes and had a prolonged period of treatment, the players had barely returned to the field when the another incident blew up on the other side of the pitch in the 4th minute. Whitletts were awarded a free kick after a slightly late but never malicious challenge by Stephen O'Keane on their right back Steven Lynch. However, as the two players lay on the ground, Lynch appeared to lash out at the Glencairn midfielder. The referee was very quick to react to the situation and pulled a few players away who were wanting to get involved, and a straight red card was shown to Lynch, while a yellow card was shown to Paul McDougall who had run over to confront Lynch.

So with the visitors facing the prospect of playing 86 minutes of the match with a man less, it was clear that they had to reorganise defensively. Before they could do this, though, Glencairn were 1-0 ahead. A long ball from the trialist right back saw Paul McDougall beat the offside trap and run in behind the Whitletts' defence, and he steadied himself before firing the ball decisively past Barclay in the visitors' goal to put the home side 1-0 ahead after only  6 minutes.

 Paul McDougall

Most of the Glencairn fans in the ground at this point thought that it was now only a matter of "how many ?" Unfortunately it seemed that the players thought this too, and the whirlwind pace that the game had started at dropped immediately. There was little to talk of in terms of goalmouth action until the 22nd minute, when the visitors put the cat amongst the pigeons by grabbing an unexpected equaliser. A seemingly harmless through ball looked like being dealt with comfortably by Glencairn keeper McNeil, however somehow there was a communication breakdown in Glencairn's rearguard and despite desperate attempts by Palmer and White to clear the danger, Whitlett's striker Elliot Duffy was left with an empty goal to roll the ball into, and it was 1-1.

That was not in the script that everybody was reading after 6 minutes, and The Glens immediately set about getting the game back in their grasp. McLaughlin fired in a fierce shot from distance which Barclay did well to tip over his cross bar, and then a minute later McLaughlin was denied again by a brilliant save by Barclay after the striker had dribbled round him, cut back from the bye-line and fired in a firm shot from 6 yards out.

Barr and White put pressure on Whitletts' goalkeeper Barclay.

For the rest of the first half it was almost constant one-way traffic towards the visitors' goal as The Glens made the extra man count, but they couldn't break down a resolute Whitletts defence. McLaughlin again dribbled round the goalkeeper in the 33rd minute after a brilliant pass by McDougall had set him up, but his touch took him too far wide and he could only shoot into the side-netting. A minute later a long ball by Palmer released McDougall through on goal again, but after controlling the ball well on his chest he scuffed his left-foot shot straight at Barclay.

As half-time approached the chances kept coming for the home side. McLaughlin curled a clever free kick from the edge of the penalty area low round the defensive wall, but again Barclay was there to parry the ball to safety. And just on the half-time whistle Ryan McArdle burst past two players on the edge of the area and fired in a shot which flew well over Barclay's crossbar.

Half-time : 1-1

Both sides remained unchanged for the start of the second half, and the pattern of the match remained the same as well. The chances kept coming for The Glens, and they continued to be frustrated by a mixture of poor finishing and excellent goalkeeping by Barclay. Two golden chances to go back in front were passed up in the 49th and 51st minutes, firstly O'Keane heading straight at Barclay from 6 yards out when unmarked, and then defender David Barr sending a free header inches wide of goal from when given another free header on the penalty spot.

As the game moved on, the Rutherglen side's goal attempts became more and more desperate as the potential of dropping points to a 10-man side seemed more and more realistic. Palmer fired a shot from distance straight at Barclay, and when a chance fell to Glens' captain Davie Dickson on the edge of the box, the normally calm midfielder fired his shot wildly over the crossbar.

Whitletts began to sense that it could be their day, and midfielder Graham Longair tried his luck with a shot on goal from a free kick on the halfway line which almost caught out McNeil, the stopper saving the ball on the line after back-tracking quickly.

There was a spell of several substitutions for both sides around the mid point of the second half, and the significant change came in the 68th minute when managers Smith and Patterson decided to change the shape of the team. David Carr was brought on to play in the hole behind the two strikers, and left back Craig Palmer was withdrawn. Paul Thomson was also withdrawn and replaced by wide midfielder Jack Henry.

The two substitutes made an instant impact. Their first touches of the ball produced a brilliant passing move with some lovely flicks that ended with Carr rolling the ball into the path of Stephen O'Keane on the edge of the penalty area, and this time he made no mistake with a well-placed firm low shot which flew into the net past Barclay, and The Glens were ahead again at 2-1. O'Keane has now scored in every one of Glencairn's league matches so far this season.

 Stephen O'Keane

This time Glencairn sensibly controlled the match and left nothing open at the back for the visitors to expose. Barclay kept the scoreline respectable for the visitors as the match drew to a close. Firstly he made another excellent save to tip a curled shot by Carr over the bar, and then he saved with his feet to deny Paul McLaughlin's fierce angled drive.

In the last minute McLaughlin, Dickson an Carr somehow conspired to fail to score when a goal seemed inevitable with three players bearing down on goal against one defender and the goalkeeper. But it didn't matter in the end as the referee blew for full time and the points were secured for the home side.

Rutherglen Glencairn :- McNeil, Trialist, Palmer (Henry), Barr, White, Dickson, McArdle (Burke), O'Keane, McDougall, McLaughlin, Thomson (Carr). (Subs not used - Gentile, McShane, Paul and Turner (gk).)

Whitletts Victoria :- Barclay, Lynch, Mains, McKissock (Cameron), King, Buchanan, Lyall, Longair, McGivern (Clark), Davidson, Duffy (Santos). (Subs not used - McPherson, Kerr, Fulton and Chisholm (gk).)

Man of the match - (Chosen by match ball sponsor Ian Stevens) A joint award to substitutes David Carr and Jack Henry for their first contribution to the game after coming onto the park, combining brilliantly to set up the winning goal for Stephen O'Keane.

 David Carr        Jack Henry

Saturday 29th August 2009 - Stagecoach West Region Super League Division One

(Report by Jim Keith)

 Davie Dickson scored the opening goal.

After their excellent opening away success at Maybole last Saturday, The Glens travelled to Western Park, Renfrew, hoping to continue their good form. Glencairn were forced into one change to their starting line-up as forward David Carr, who sustained a hamstring injury against Maybole, was unable to line up. So Paul McDougall took his place to partner Paul McLaughlin up front.

The teams kicked off in the face of a strong cross wind which didn't help either side as they tried to settle down and play good football. The first ten minutes or so was spent testing each other out but the game exploded into life with three goals coming in the next seven minutes.

Glencairn were the first side to strike with a very well worked goal, finished brilliantly by skipper Davie Dickson. On 11 minutes, after good holding play by McDougall, he sent a pass out wide to Ryan McArdle. He crossed the ball just outside of Renfrew's box which went over a Renfrew player's head, and Dickson was lurking behind. Chesting the ball down, he looked up and from 20 yards crashed an unstoppable right foot volley into the postage-stamp corner with 'Frew keeper Sexton rooted to the spot.

It was a great start for The Glens, but just two minutes later they found themselves level after Glencairn's defence were involved in a mix-up with keeper David Turner. A through ball landed 20 yards from Glencairn's goal. The defence, who appeared to hear a shout from the keeper, stopped running thinking the goalie was coming out to clear. 'Frew midfielder Colin Forbes was more alert and, seeing Turner stranded on the penalty spot, coolly lobbed the ball into the unguarded net to level the score at 1-1.

Just four minutes later, on 17 minutes, The Glens restored their advantage. After a good run down the left by Paul Thomson, he crossed the ball which fell to McDougall. He showed good awareness to knock the ball into the path of Stephen O'Keane some 16 yards out, and the midfielder duly drilled it low into the middle of Renfrew's net to put Glencairn 2-1 up.

 Stephen O'Keane

On 28 minutes the first booking of the game went to Glencairn winger Ryan McArdle after a late lunge on the Renfrew left back out on the touchline. Renfrew, pushing for the equaliser, were next to threaten and maybe should have on 34 minutes, with the Glencairn defence not clearing their lines. A clear chance fell to Clinton Maxwell 12 yards out, but he screwed his effort past Turner's left hand post.

Play was now surging from end to end and in 37 minutes The Glens gained a corner on the left, taken by McArdle. Paul McLaughlin reacted first and flashed a header past the near post. Almost immediately Davie Dickson theaded a good through ball into the path of McLaughlin and at an angle he thumped a great shot on the rise which cracked off the Renfrew crossbar, to the relief of the home side. On 39 minutes a tackle by O'Keane in the centre circle resulted in a strong word being given out by referee Mr Ainslie to the Glencairn midfielder.

With the clock on the stroke of half-time, unfortunately for The Glens, Renfrew equalised in slightly controversial circumstances. Centre back Jamie White, just outside of the box, tackled a 'Frew player, and as White lay on the ground the ball was hit against him. The referee whistled for a free kick to Renfrew, saying the ball hit his arm. White argued strongly that it had hit his chest, but the referee gave the free kick and booked White for his protestations. Worse was to come though, as the resultant free kick was taken by 'Frew defender Brian Welsh who shot straight through the Glens' defensive wall, and with the help of a deflection the ball nestled in Turner's right-hand net to level the game at 2-2. The half-time whistle blew seconds later and Glencairn must have felt most unfortunate to go inside at level pegging.

Half-time : 2-2

The second half saw Renfrew, with the wind in their favour, showing more attacking threat than they appeared to have in the first half, and on 47 minutes they almost grabbed the lead. A ball down the left side was completely missed by White trying to intercept, and this allowed striker Matt McLean to run in on goalie Turner, but he hurried his shot and skewed his effort past the right-hand post. That was a let-off for The Glens, which seemed to go unheeded and for the first time in the match they found themselves a goal behind on 52 minutes.

A long ball down Glens' left flank was met by right back Steven Kerr, who made a mess of clearing the danger. He seemed to get a bad bounce, but nevertheless 'Frew striker Clinton Maxwell ran on to the ball and lobbed Turner from just inside the box to put his side 3-2 up. Confidence was now flowing in the home side as they tried to kill the game off. On the hour mark another chance fell to striker Matt McLean inside the box, which he just failed to take.

The Glens' defence at this point were not at their most confident and a lot of their problems were self-inflicted, and indeed on 65 minutes they fell 4-2 behind. Another long ball from 'Frew's right back Hammond fell at the feet of Matt McLean inside the box, and almost unchallenged he hooked the ball home from 10 yards out.

To Glencairn's credit, however, a minute later on 66 minutes they scored again to reduce the deficit to 4-3. A good passing move down the left resulted in a good 1-2 between Fraser and O'Keane. Tony Fraser, now 12 yards out, drilled a left foot shot low into the net underneath Sexton's body. Fraser, who had not been seen as an attacking threat in the first half, was now appearing in a more forward role later in the match.

 Tony Fraser

On 69 minutes, Glens' right back Kerr was subbed in favour of a trialist and a minute later striker Paul McLaughlin was booked by Mr Ainslie for verbals after a foul was given against him. The 74th minute saw Glencairn bringing on Jack Henry for McArdle and on 75 minutes the game was effectively over for The Glens when they went 5-3 behind.

Renfrew left winger Crowhurst put in a good cross to the heart of the 6-yard box and striker Matt McLean rose unchallenged to bullet a header past Turner for his second goal of the game. Two minutes later a shot from distance by Crowhurst amost deceived Turner who had to scramble the ball for a corner.

Glencairn tried to rally once again and after good work by Fraser on the left the ball fell to Dickson who fired past the right-hand post from 18 yards. On 82 minutes Lee McShane replaced Dickson and three minutes later O'Keane was booked for tangling with the Renfrew centre half and goalkeeper Sexton.

The last action of the match fell to The Glens. A Tony Fraser free kick on the left was headed well wide by McShane and the referee ended the match shortly afterwards, with the home side celebrating a hard-earned three points, which was made a lot easier by Glencairn's defensive frailties.

No doubt co-managers Scott Smith and Willie Patterson will be addressing these problems in the following week before the team travel to play Dalry Thistle on Saturday for another important league encounter.

Renfrew :- Sexton, Hammond, Dickie, Welsh, Shearer, Stewart, Forbes, Prentice, McLean, Maxwell, Crowhurst.

Rutherglen Glencairn :- Turner, Kerr (Trialist), Barr, White, Fraser, McArdle (Henry), Dickson (McShane), O'Keane, Thomson, McLaughlin, McDougall. (Subs not used - McNeil (gk), Paul, Hughes and Burke.)

Referee :- Mr Mark Ainslie.

Wednesday 26th August 2009 - Friendly match

(Report by Peter Ferguson)

Paul McLaughlin reacts first to a saved penalty to score his 2nd goal of his hat-trick.

The Glens travelled to the north of the city tonight to take on Stagecoach West Region Super Premier League side Petershill in a friendly match, and they couldn't possibly have expected to come away with such a positive result as they did. It was a night full of positives for the Glencairn squad as it saw the return to action of left back Chris Hughes and left midfielder Richie Burke who came through 45 minutes of action each.

There was a hint of what was to come as early as the opening minute when Paul McDougall set up Burke on the left edge of the penalty area, and the midfielder's drive across goal was just missed at the back post by the sliding Paul McLaughlin. Burke was in the thick of the action early on and he set up McDougall for a shot on the edge of the penalty area after 7 minutes which flew just wide of the post.

After the early Glencairn pressure, it was a shock to the system when their higher league opponents took the lead after 11 minutes with their first attempt on goal. A corner was rolled to the edge of the penalty area and Alan Lindsay fired an accurate shot through a ruck of players and into the net past a helpless Steven McNeil in the Glens' goal.

Burke and Tony Fraser were combining well down the left flank as they had so often last season, and Burke almost grabbed an equaliser after 17 minutes when he fired a snapshot narrowly wide from the edge of the penalty area. Glencairn had another great chance to equalise just after the half-hour mark when McLaughlin brilliantly picked out Lee McShane at the back post, but after controlling the ball on his chest the midfielder sent a tame left foot shot wide of the target.

Petershill had a spell of pressure shortly before the interval and McNeil had to make a smart diving save from the home side's no.9 after a volleyed effort from 12 yards out. That save proved to be crucial in terms of the flow of the match, as The Glens went straight back up the field and equalised. A deep corner from the left found Chris Paul unmarked at the back post, and the central defender sent an excellent looping header into the net to make the score 1-1.

 Chris Paul

The home side had a great chance to go back in front almost immediately, but their no. 10 headed just wide of the post from 8 yards out when it looked easier to score.

Half-time : 1-1

The second half had barely started and some of the fans hadn't re-emerged from the bar when The Glens took the lead. Jack Henry fired over an excellent curling cross from the right and striker Paul McLaughlin didn't have to break stride as he bulleted a header into the net from 6 yards out.

 Paul McLaughlin

Petershill's no.10 had another great chance to equalise after 55 minutes but, as he had done just before half-time, he missed the target with his header from the penalty spot. Ten minutes later Ryan McArdle had a golden opportunity to increase Glencairn's lead after a delightful pass by Paul Thomson set him up, but his lobbed effort from 8 yards dropped just over the crossbar.

The Glens did increase their lead after 70 minutes though. Paul McDougall was pushed in the back on the 6-yard line as he stooped for a header, and the referee rightly pointed to the penalty spot. McDougall's penalty effort was saved by the Peasy goalkeeper, but first to react was Paul McLaughlin and he fired the rebound under the goalkeeper (pictured above) and the ball just crossed the line before it was hooked back out again, and the referee awarded the goal.

Petershill should have pulled a goal back after 73 minutes when their no.16 skipped past a few tackles and got in behind the Glencairn back line, but he pulled his shot across goal and wide of McNeil's left hand post.

When The Glens were awarded a free kick on the edge of the penalty area after 80 minutes there was only one man going to take it. Up stepped Paul McLaughlin to curl a superb shot into the postage-stamp corner of the net for his hat-trick and to put Glencairn 4-1 ahead.

The home side didn't know what had hit them, and worse was to follow for them a couple of minutes later when McDougall's chipped ball saw Ryan McArdle beat the offside trap, dribble round the goalkeeper and tap the ball into the net from an acute angle to make it 5-1.

 Ryan McArdle

Petershill's final effort at goal came with 6 minutes remaining when their no. 9 fired just over McNeil's crossbar, but the ball was always rising and the Glencairn keeper made no effort to move for it.

McLaughlin almost increased his and Glencairn's tally with 2 minutes remaining when he again broke clear of the Peasy defence, but his powerful angled shot was parried by the home goalkeeper and cleared to safety.

It was a pleasant evening for the management team to watch after the early season woes, and co-manager Scott Smith commented, "We could have come up here and lost and seen all the good morale we got from last Saturday disappear, so it's been great to see this performance. Bring on the Clyde !"

Team :- McNeil, Kerr (Barr), Fraser (Hughes), Paul (White), Trialist, McShane, Henry, Dickson (McArdle), McLaughlin, McDougall, Burke (Thomson). (Sub not used - Hopkins.)

Man of the match - (Chosen by Scott Smith and Terry Waters) Lee McShane had an excellent game in the centre of midfield and got the nod from the bench for the award, narrowly ahead of hat-trick hero Paul McLaughlin.

 Lee McShane

Saturday 22nd August 2009 - Stagecoach West Region Super League Division One

(Report by Peter Ferguson)

David Carr holds off his marker early in the match.

Glencairn made club history today when they took part in their first ever match in the West Region Super Leagues set-up, and they produced a performance to match the occasion as they swept to victory in the Ayrshire sunshine. The Glens' form in the Central Sectional League Cup had been poor, but the Rutherglen side's fans were pinning their hopes on the return of several players to the squad for today's opener, and they weren't left disappointed.

Back into the side came right back Steven Kerr, midfidler Ryan McArdle and striker Paul McLaughlin, but the player everybody was particularly pleased to see return to action was captain and playmaker Davie Dickson in central midfield after four months on the sidelines with a knee injury. There was a disappointment for new left back signing Craig Palmer before the game as he felt a reaction to a recent ankle injury and had to pull out of the starting line-up, and he was replaced by summer midfield signing Paul Thomson, with Tony Fraser dropping into left back.

Managers Scott Smith and Willie Patterson had made it crystal clear to the squad that now was the time to deliver. There were no excuses now that the squad was almost back to full strength, with only Burke, McGladrigan, Palmer and Hopkins unavailable for selection now. They got the reaction they wanted, with The Glens bursting out of the traps and taking the game to their hosts right from the kick off.

After Maybole striker Andrew Stevenson was yellow carded early on for a late challenge on Stephen O'Keane, the visitors created the first of their real chances to take the lead after 10 minutes. O'Keane fed McArdle on the right edge of the penalty area, but the wide man fired his shot well over the crossbar from a good position to score.

Two minutes later a brilliant reverse pass by McLaughlin set up O'Keane for an angled shot, but Maybole goalkeeper Martin McCauley made an excellent diving save to his left to parry the ball to safety. It didn't take much longer, though, for The Glens to take the 1-0 lead that they deserved for their excellent start to the game. In the 15th minute Ryan McArdle swung over a corner kick and Paul McLaughlin was first to react, bulleting a front post header into the net from 6 yards out, giving McCauley absolutely no chance.

 Paul McLaughlin

McLaughlin was being a constant menace to the Maybole back line, and the striker's pace had the home defence on the back foot. McLaughlin almost doubled his tally when he reacted sharply to a loose ball in the box but flicked his effort narrowly over McCauley's crossbar.

Paul McLaughlin runs at the Maybole defence in the first half.

The home side weren't really threatening the Glencairn rearguard, with David Barr and Jamie White looking particularly solid in front of confident summer goalkeeping signing David Turner. At the other end, however, The Glens were looking threatening with every attack. Firstly Maybole defender Craig Stevenson cleared off the line after a mazy run from McArdle had set up Dickson, and then from the resulting corner McCauley made a brilliant diving save to deny a volley on the drop from Davie Dickson.

The pace that The Glens were playing at had to drop at some point though, and when O'Keane was harshly booked on the half hour after appearing to commit no foul whatsoever, the home side had a brief spell of pressure as they looked for an equaliser. Turner had to make a sharp diving save down low to his right after a misplaced backward defensive header almost crept into the corner of the net. A few minutes later Maybole winger Stuart McGrady curled a free kick towards goal which was deflected narrowly wide of Turner's right-hand post.

As half-time approached, though, Glencairn could have extended their lead. A fast breakaway saw McLaughlin released McArdle on the right, and the return pass fizzed across the 6-yard line with no takers in the middle. McCauley made another excellent save from a deflected shot from McLaughlin just before the break as The Glens took a deserved lead into the changing rooms.

Half-time : 0-1

The home side had clearly had a pep talk at the interval and they came out for the 2nd half with a little more purpose in the early stages. Paul Thomson was a little slack with a clearance which led to a chance for Maybole striker Paul Kerr to equalise from 6 yards, but Turner made a good block with his legs.

But it didn't take long for the visitors to get a grip on proceedings again. Paul McDougall had replaced the injured David Carr up front at the break, and he almost doubled Glencairn's lead after 54 minutes when he swivelled on the edge of the box and fired narrowly over the crossbar.

Paul Thomson seemed to be getting stronger as the game went on and was catching the eye with some surging supporting runs from the left of midfield. He was being supported equally well by the pace on the other flank of McArdle, and the right midfielder had two opportunities in as many minutes to score, on both occasions firing left foot shots over the bar after great set-up moves by Dickson and Fraser.

David Turner had to show that he was switched on at the other end after 64 minutes when Barr was slightly short with a back header, and the Glencairn no.1 reacted well again to block Paul Kerr's angled effort at goal.

Maybole started to push men forward in search of the equaliser as the mid point of the second half arrived, and that suited Glencairn right down to the ground as they sucked the home side in and hit them with pace on the break. Twice in the space of five minutes The Glens had a 3 on 2 situation as they broke towards goal, with firstly Thomson firing into the side netting from the edge of the box and then Dickson's firm shot from the edge of the penalty area being saved well by McCauley diving to his right.

McArdle was wrapped in cotton wool as the game moved into the closing 15 minutes and was replaced by young wide man Jack Henry, who is on loan from Queen's Park. Henry's first contribution to the game was almost a goal as he got on the end of McLaughlin's cross and volleyed against the outide of McCauley's left-hand post. McLaughlin was then also rested and replaced by a trialist striker.

Glencairn finally got the killer 2nd goal that they deserved in the 78th minute. Henry swung over a deep free kick, Barr headed the ball back across goal and Stephen O'Keane reacted first to the loose ball to turn a left-foot shot into the net from 12 yards out to make it 2-0. The team celebrated as they knew there was no way back for Maybole after that.

 Stephen O'Keane

The win was wrapped up nicely in the 89th minute and a fair reflection put on the scoreline when Paul McDougall brilliantly lobbed McCauley from the edge of the penalty area after a superb crossfield pass from his trialist striking partner.

 Paul McDougall

The lead was almost increased in injury time when Henry ran at the heart of the Maybole defence and set up Thomson for a shot, but McCauley made yet another fine save as he had done all afternoon to keep the scoreline down to only three conceded.

Scott Smith was obviously delighted with the performance, but after the game he was keen not to get too carried away. "I don't want to jump the gun and say we've turned the corner, but that was very promising. Not too many teams will do that to Maybole. We're very happy though, and a big shout goes to Davie Dickson for a captain's performance after so long out of action."

Maybole Juniors :- McCauley, Clarke, Craig Stevenson, Crawford, McMullen (Reilly), Scott, Boyle, Walker (Jordan Kerr), Andrew Stevenson, Paul Kerr, McGrady. (Subs not used - Milby and Johnstone.)

Rutherglen Glencairn :- Turner, Steven Kerr, Thomson, Barr, White, Dickson, McArdle (Henry), O'Keane, McLaughlin (Trialist), Carr (McDougall), Fraser. (Subs not used - Gentile, McShane, Trialist, McNeil (gk).)

Referee :- Mr Jim Burns.

Man of the match - (Chosen by Alan Rae) Paul Thomson wasn't originally in the planned starting XI but he came in to replace the injured Craig Palmer and produced an energetic and effective performance. David Barr was also in the running for Alan's award, but Thomson just edged it.

 Paul Thomson

Wednesday 19th August 2009 - Friendly match

(Report by Peter Ferguson)

 David Barr scored the only goal.

With both teams having had their opening league matches of the season postponed the previous Saturday, Glencairn and Benburb took the opportunity to arrange a mutually benficial friendly match at Tinto Park in Govan. The Glens used twenty players throughout the 90 minutes, and would have used another two had the referee not been so unnecessarily picky about jersey numbers in what was simply a fitness exercise for both teams.

Tinto Park in Govan is a ground where Glencairn hadn't won for over a decade, but the expectation for the small crowd was for an away win tonight, with the home side having just been relegated from the league which the visitors had won so emphatically last season.

The Glens almost took the lead after only two minutes when Ryan McArdle's cross found David Carr unmarked in front of goal, but the striker's bullet header hit the inside of the post and bounced outwards, and Chris Paul couldn't quite reach the ball as he slid in for the rebound.

Other than that exciting start, the game was somewhat stale for the opening 20 minutes of the first half, with Glencairn looking the more threatening without seriously testing Joe Ghattas in the Benburb goal. The main threat was coming down the right wing with McArdle catching the eye, and it was another move down that flank that set up the next chance. McArdle fed Carr on the right, and his cross was met by a glancing header by Tony Fraser on the 6-yard line which flew narrowly wide of the left-hand post.

The home side started to threaten for a period as half-time approached, and after midfielder Andrew Crossey had fired narrowly wide there was a shout for a penalty for Benburb when ex-Glens striker Steven Waddell tumbled over goalkeeper Steven McNeil, but from my angle it looked theatrical, and the referee agreed and waved play on.

Ghattas made two routine saves just before the interval as he saved shots from the edge of the area from Fraser and McArdle, both of which were fired tamely straight towards him.

Half-time : 0-0

The Glens made six changes at the interval and there were welcome returns for new signings Steven Kerr, Paul Thomson, Chris Hopkins and Paul McLaughlin, all players who have seen very little match action in recent weeks as Glencairn struggled in the Central Sectional League Cup matches.

Immediately the team looked keener and sharper, and it was no surprise when Glencairn took the lead five minutes after the restart. A cross ball from a corner was stabbed towards goal by McLaughlin but cleared off the line. Paul McDougall headed it back into the mix but again it was blocked, only for David Barr to rise above everybody to head the loose ball into the net from a yard out.

The sharpness was evident again as Glencairn's players pressed the ball right from the restart and forced a loose pass to be given straight to Paul McLaughlin, and the striker carried the ball forward for 20 yards before unleashing a fizzing shot which flew inches wide of Ghattas' right hand post.

Paul Thomson was catching the eye on the left side of midfield, and he nearly doubled Glencairn's lead when he hit a snapshot from the edge of the box which hit the post and rebounded to safety.

The pace of McLaughlin was clearly troubling the Benburb back line as they played their offside tactics, and when Thomson's brilliant pass saw McLaughlin beat the offside trap on the left, the cross ball seemed like a certain goal for Paul McDougall until Benburb defender Graeme Watson got back to make a superb block on McDougall's firm shot.

Benburb were offering little of threat to Glencairn's back line which now had two trialist in the middle, but at the other end Thomson threatened again after McLaughlin set him up on the penalty spot, only for Ghattas to make a good block at the midfielder's feet.

In the end it was a deserved win for The Glens on a night where the rain which had been falling most of the day got heavier as the match went on. Glens co-manager was quite positive at the end of the match. "It's been a good run-out for us. We managed to get five players back out on the pitch who we've been missing recently, and we've got a win as well, so we're quite pleased."

Benburb :- Ghattas, Kinnaird, Elliot, Watson, Thomson, Crossey, Tinney, Carrol, McGlinchey, Waddell, Callaghan. (Subs :- Brown, Mackenzie, McMillan, O'Neill, Imrie and Kayes.)

Rutherglen Glencairn :- McNeil (Turner), Paul (Kerr), Kane (Trialist), Barr (Trialist), White (Thomson), McArdle (Trialist), Gentile (Hopkins), McShane (McLaughlin), Fraser, Carr (McDougall), O'Keane. (Subs not used - Dickson and Trialist.)

Man of the match - (Chosen by Terry Waters) Stephen O'Keane was one of only two Glencairn players who played for 90 minutes, and he edges the award from Tony Fraser.

 Stephen O'Keane

Wednesday 12th August 2009 - Central Sectional League Cup Group 4

(Report by Peter Ferguson)

Tony Fraser challenges for possession in the first half.

The Glens brought the curtain down on their participation in this season's Central Sectional League Cup with this rather tame match, competed by two sides who realistically had no chance of qualifying from the group before kick off.

Glencairn again had an experimental XI to start the match, with three trialists selected again and a further two on the bench. Managers Scott Smith and Willie Patterson also took the opportunity to give much-needed game time to Paul McDougall, Paul Thomson and Lee McShane, who hadn't featured much in the previous games. There was also a comeback from injury for left back Craig Palmer, although unfortunately it only lasted half an hour before he limped off again after a heavy knock on his ankle. Another injury was the last thing Glencairn needed, with Jamie White also nursing a knock and sitting out this game with a view to the start of the league season.

It's fair to say that the first half was not pretty viewing. The football on display from both sides was far from silky, although to be fair there were plenty of goalscoring opportunities. The first fell to the visitors when James Cochrane pounced on a mistake by Chris Paul but stabbed his shot just wide of Glens goalkeeper Davie Turner's left hand post.

Lee McShane had a golden chance to give Glencairn the lead after 5 minutes when Thomson's cross found its way to the big midfielder at the back post, but after controlling the ball well on his chest he fired the ball into the side netting without testing Vics keeper Alan Colquhoun.

The trickery of Blantyre wide man Ross Fletcher was catching the eye, and he pulled a good save out of Turner when he shot along the ground from 8 yards out. Shortly afterwards a goal seemed certain when Fletcher combined in a clever 1-2 move with Cochrane, but the presence of Turner sprinting from his line was enough to make Fletcher stab his shot wide of the post.

The Glens were next to go close, and Paul McDougall did well to get to the bye-line and cross under pressure, but the ball fell to Tony Fraser's right foot instead of his usual left and Glencairn's top scorer from last season fired his shot over Colquhoun's crossbar.

More delightful play from Fletcher on the right set up a chance for a snapshot by Vics striker Gary Espener, but he fired his shot yards over Turner's crossbar. The deadlock was broken in the 25th minute, however, when Gary Espener got in behind the Glencairn defence and beat Turner to the ball, stabbing it past him and into the empty net to make it 1-0 to Blantyre.

The injury to Palmer meant a re-structuring of the Glencairn line-up, with Stephen O'Keane introduced to the play and Tony Fraser withdrawn to left back. O'Keane's first involvement in the game was to put in a robust tackle on Vics midfielder Mark Batchelor, and O'Keane was shown the yellow card for his troubles.

The Glens almost equalised after 34 minutes when Thomson's cross was palmed away by Colquhoun and returned across the box by O'Keane straight away, but McDougall couldn't turn the ball into the net at the back post with the ball falling behind him and the danger was cleared.

As half-time approached it looked like the visitors were going to increase their lead, and Turner produced a fine save down low to parry a shot from Cochrane as he ran in on goal, and Fraser completed the tidy-up by clearing the ball from 3 yards out as Espener lurked behind him. From the resulting corner the ball was only partially cleared to the edge of the box and Batchelor fired wildly over the bar when he really should have scored.

Half-time : 0-1

Things could only get better for The Glens in the second half, and after a clearly audible motivational talk from Scott Smith the home side came out in the second period with much more purpose and pattern.

The whole ground was ready to applaud what seemed like a brilliant equaliser for Glencairn after 55 minutes when Fraser sliced open the Vics defence with a diagonal pass to O'Keane. The big midfielder dribbled round Colquhoun and had an open goal to roll the ball into, but agonisingly he fired the ball over the crossbar from 12 yards out. It was a moment that summed up Glencairn's season so far !

Glencairn were somewhat fortunate not to lose their goalkeeper just after the hour mark when the assistant referee adjudged that Turner had handled outside the penalty area with Vics striker Cochrane waiting to pounce. The dispute by the stopper seemed genuine though, and he was given the benefit of the doubt by the referee and only shown a yellow card. Espener fired the resulting free kick well over the crossbar.

The Glens were far more positive by this point and were pushing Blantyre further back, with Fraser pushing on from left back and linking well with O'Keane who had now moved up front alongside McDougall. Vics defender Anton Rodgers headed the ball off the line after Lee McShane had won an aerial duel with Colquhoun, and from the the resulting corner in the 69th minute Glencairn had their reward for the pressure by finally equalising. Paul Thomson swung in a pacy swerving cross which missed everybody and dropped into the net at the back post to make the score 1-1.

 Paul Thomson

After that there was only one team in the game as play flowed continually towards the dressing room end goal which The Glens were attacking. Firstly O'Keane fired across goal with no takers on the cross, then O'Keane set up the young trialist substitute midfielder who volleyed over the bar.

Fraser set up another brilliant chance for Glencairn to win the game when he skipped past a challenge and swung a perfect cross onto the head of Paul McDougall, but the striker sent his header well wide of target.

With seven minutes remaining The Glens were denied what looked like an absolutely certain penalty when a Vics defender appeared to block a cross with both hands in the air, but the referee decided bizarrely against awarding the spot kick, to the bemusement of just about everybody inside the ground. From the corner that followed, McShane headed powerfully for goal but was denied on the line by a brilliant clearance by Vics defender Michael Docherty.

And so the game ended in a share of the points, and Scott Smith commented after the game, "The first half was the worst performance since Willie and I took over at the club, but the second half was a bit more like us." The Glens now move forward into the challenge of their first ever season in the West Region Super League Division One, and will be hoping that the players up their game somewhat after what has been a disappointing Sectional League Cup campaign.

Rutherglen Glencairn :- Turner, Trialist, Palmer (O'Keane), Paul, Barr, McShane, Thomson, Trialist (Trialist), Trialist (Gentile), McDougall, Fraser. (Subs not used - Carr, Kane, McNeil (gk) and Trialist.)

Blantyre Victoria :- Colquhoun, Docherty, Rodgers, Smith, Newman, Batchelor, Fletcher (Griffin), Glancy (Bulloch), Cochrane (Mallon), Espener, McAloon. (Sub not used - Weir (gk).)

Man of the match - (Chosen by Steven McNeil) Lee McShane was the best player in black and white tonight. He could have scored a couple of goals and his general play was tidy. He did pick up his usual booking though.

 Lee McShane

Saturday 8th August 2009 - Central Sectional League Cup Group 4

(Report by Peter Ferguson)

Jamie White blocks out Cambuslang midfielder Scott Dunn.

The Glens' run of 11 consecutive wins over local rivals Cambuslang Rangers came to an end with a 1-0 win for the visitors at The Clyde Gateway Stadium. It was far from a classic, with both sides missing many of their first choice players, but most of the drama was reserved for the closing stages with red cards, a 20-man punch-up and the winning goal all coming near the end.

Glencairn fielded three trialists in a starting line-up that was missing an incredible 9 players, with Kerr suspended, McArdle and McLaughlin on holiday, Hopkins unavailable, and Hughes, Palmer, Dickson, Burke and McGladrigan all injured. The visitors were also missing 5 players, with former Glencairn players Hoey and Rea missing along with McCrae, Queen and Ferguson for various reasons. So it's fair to say that we didn't see the best of either side this afternoon.

The first half took some time to get going and it was 20 minutes into the match before either side had a serious attempt at goal. Tony Fraser cut inside for The Glens and unleashed a right foot shot which flew over the bar without threatening Cambuslang goalkeeper John Connolly.

Five minutes later Glencairn's trialist striker beat Connolly in a 50/50 race for the ball and also dribbled round defender Colin Irvine, but as David Carr yelled for the square ball on the 6-yard line the striker fired harmlessly into the side netting.

On the half hour referee Mr Paul Robertson produced the yellow card for Lang midfielder Scott Dunn after he chopped down Fraser who was on a surging run towards the visitors' defence. It was the first yellow card of eleven that Mr Robertson produced in a match that didn't have a single malicious tackle in it, which seemed somewhat unnecessary.

Cambuslang's first clear chance of the game came after 33 minutes when a free kick from the right found its way to the unmarked head of Brian Smith at the back post, but he glanced his header wide of goal and Glencairn goalkeeper Davie Turner wasn't troubled.

Connolly was called into action at the other end just before the interval when David Carr made space for a shot on the edge of the box, but the Lang stopper held the ball on his goal line. Carr went close with a free kick right on the half-time whistle after Mark Bishop picked up a yellow card for a foul on Glencairn's trialist striker.

 David Carr in first half possession.

Half-time : 0-0

Cambuslang started the second half on the front foot, and after Glencairn defender David Barr had deflected Bishop's header for a corner, the resulting cross was headed wide by Brian Smith who had yet another free header on the 6-yard line.

Two trialists combined to create the next chance for The Glens, with the striker going on a mazy run and then slipping the ball through to the midfielder, who scuffed his shot straight at Connolly when he really should have scored.

The game was still scrappy though, and the referee didn't help with a fussy performance, showing yellow cards to several players for niggly fouls that merited at most a warning. One of the bookings was for Tony Fraser for a late sliding challenge on Lang substitute David Matthews.

Many of the Cambuslang fans in the crowd throught Robert Thomson had given the visitors the lead in the 75th minute when his right foot volley flew across goal, but from my angle it was always missing the target, although it must have looked close from the covered enclosure side.

As the game drew towards a conclusion and a goalless draw seemed inevitable, suddenly the game burst into life. Firstly there was a second yellow and the inevitable red card shown to Glencairn midfielder Tony Fraser after the referee adjudged that he had taken a dive in the penalty area, and to be fair there was little in the way of complaint.

As so often happens though, the team with 10 men seemed to cope better, and Doak had to make a last ditch block in the 85th minute to stop a goal-bound shot from Glencairn substitute Paul McDougall after some clever play by Stephen O'Keane.

Two minutes later McDougall returned the compliment with a brilliant cross right onto the head of O'Keane, but the bullet header from 6 yards was brilliantly parried by Connolly and Cambuslang started a breakaway. As Glencairn's 10 men struggled to get back into position, the ball fell kindly in the box for Brian Smith, and he calmly rolled the ball under Turner and into the net for the winning goal. It had been Cambuslang's first effort on target in the match, but to be fair there hadn't been that many at the other end either.

The game boiled over in the 90th minute when a 20-man brawl broke out on the halfway line, with referee Mr Thompson at the bottom of the pile and players from both sides jumping into the pile to play their part in the brawl. When things calmed down, Mr Thompson showed a yellow card to Stephen O'Keane, but as there were no official assistant referees on duty there was little else the referee could do as he couldn't possibly have seen who was doing what !

When the final whistle was blown, the relief of the Cambuslang contingent in the ground at ending the long losing run against their local rivals was obvious and they made their pleasure clear as they made their way to the changing rooms.

Unless the teams are drawn together in one of the cup competitions this season, that's it for the local derbies this season for Glencairn and Cambuslang, as Glencairn's promotion last season sees the teams in separate leagues. That's a pity, because even when the football on view is of poor quality, there's always plenty to talk about in this fixture !

Glens' co-manager Scott Smith was keen not to be too negative after the match, despite three defeats out of three matches so far this season. He commented, "We obviously don't like losing any matches, particularly not to our local rivals, but there's no panic. We're missing a bit of creation in the team which Dickson or Hopkins will give us, and pace up front which McLaughlin and McGladrigan will give us. We know we have the players to improve the team and produce better performances, but we have to get them out on the pitch. We just have to be patient."

Rutherglen Glencairn :- Turner, Trialist, White, Paul, Barr, Gentile, Trialist (Henry), O'Keane, Carr (McDougall), Trialist (McShane), Fraser. (Subs not used - Thomson, Kane, McNeil (gk) and Trialist.)

Cambuslang Rangers :- Connolly, Irvine, Templeton, Doak, Bishop, Smith, Dunn (Matthews), Thomson, Kilmartin (Murphy), Donnelly (Rice), Ross. (Subs not used - Trialist, Docherty, McKee and Trialist.)

Man of the match - (Chosen by Adam Hutchison) Chris Paul defended stoutly for The Glens and the visitors were restricted to very few clear-cut scoring chances in the match.

 Chris Paul

Saturday 1st August 2009 - Central Sectional League Cup Group 4

(Report by Peter Ferguson)

David Carr (in red) battles for possession early in the match.

It's not been the start to the season that everyone associated with Glencairn was hoping for. Two defeats from the two opening games has come as a shock to the system for the Rutherglen side's fans who had become used to seeing their side sweeping to victory last season. It's still early days in the season, but managers Scott Smith and Willie Patterson clearly have some work to do to get the side ready for the start of the Super League Division One season in a fortnight.

The home side, meanwhile, emerged from this game as winners of the Hamish Allan Centenary Cup, the trophy donated by the lifelong Glencairn fan to mark the Rutherglen side's centenary season in 1996 and traditionally played for by these two sides in their first meeting each season.

It didn't help that the squad was down to the bare bones for this match, with influential players Davie Dickson and Stephen McGladrigan still injured, Paul McLaughlin and Ryan McArdle on holiday, and Chris Gentile and Chris Hopkins also unavailable. So there was a starting place for new loan signing (from Queen's Park) Jack Henry, and new central defender Jamie White (signed from Shotts Bon Accord) kept his place in the team after a few appearances as a trialist.

The first chance of the match fell to the home side, when White only half-cleared a cross by Ross Ballantyne and Thistle midfielder Colin Williamson fired over the bar from 18 yards out.

Thistle defender Ryan Jordan was shown the yellow card after only 9 minutes for a bad tackle on Tony Fraser, but Jordan was very forceful in his disputing of the decision and demanded that a Glencairn player be shown yellow for their first foul as well. The referee duly obliged by showing yellow to Lee McShane for an inocuous challenge on the halfway line shortly afterwards, and the referee had set the standard by which he had to continue.

The Glens were controlling possession and had the terriorial advantage for most of the opening quarter, without seriously testing Johnny Murdoch in the Thistle goal, and the next near thing came at the other end. David Watt skipped away from White on the bye-line and fired across goal, but Glens' new goalkeeper David Turner held the ball at his near post.

In the 26th minute Glens striker David Carr was released clean through on goal, but was flagged offside by the linesman. It was a quite dreadful decision, to be honest, as a Thistle defender was clearly playing Carr onside by at least two yards and was right in front of the linesman.

There were great chances to break the deadlock at both ends around the half-hour mark. Firstly Thistle striker Steven McClung fired wildly over the bar from the angle of the penalty area when clean through on goal, and then moments later at the other end Tony Fraser found himself in the exact same position with only the goalkeeper to beat, but Murdoch parried Fraser's fierce shot to safety.

The first half ended with The Glens on the front foot. Left back Craig Palmer was showing up well again and has had an impressive start to his Glencairn career, and he fired narrowly past the post from the edge of the box after being set up well by Lee McShane.

Half-time : 0-0

The second half was simply a disaster for The Glens. It started off positively enough mind you, with Palmer feeding Carr on the edge of the box and the striker twisting into a good position to score, but he sliced his shot wide from 12 yards.

There was a hint of things to come, though, when Thistle's right back Billy Struthers sent a long ball forward to McClung and he turned inside Chris Paul and fired goalwards but straight at Turner who saved comfortably.

David Carr had the ball in the net for The Glens after 49 minutes when he slipped the ball past Murdoch and into the corner of the net, but again Glencairn were denied by the linesman's offside flag, correctly on this occasion.

The deadlock was broken in the 51st minute and the home side were ahead. A cross from the right was met on the 6-yard line by Paul Woods and he gave Turner no chance to put Thistle ahead at 1-0.

The Glens should have been given the opportunity to equalise only two minutes later when Lee McShane was clearly fouled just inside the penalty area by Murdoch, but to be fair to the referee on this occasion his sight of the incident was blocked by a few other players, so it would have been a brave (but correct) call to award a penalty for a foul that he couldn't have seen.

Glencairn's frustration at decisions not going in their favour was evident and co-manager Scott Smith was warned by the referee after making his feelings very clear from the dugout. But there was no disputing the circumstances of East Kilbride's second goal in the 55th minute. A long ball saw Steven McClung get in behind White, and as everybody expected him to cut the ball back he scored from a narrow angle with a firm shot to make it 2-0 to the home side.

The big chance for Glencairn to get themselves back into the game came just after the hour mark. A terrific curling cross from Palmer found its way right onto the head of Paul McDougall on the 6-yard line, but just as he nodded his head towards the ball he took a nudge in the back from team-mate Lee McShane who was also trying to get on the end of the cross, and the ball flew off McDougall's head and wide of the post to the further frustration of the visitors.

That was really the last chance that The Glens created in the match, and with Stephen O'Keane booked for persistent fouling shortly afterwards it was clear that the referee wasn't for leniency after his early yellow cards. Glens defender Chris Paul was booked for a foul on the edge of the penalty area, and Woods was denied his second goal in the game by a good save by Turner from the resulting free kick. Two minutes later Glencairn were reduced to ten men when the referee showed a second yellow card to Chris Paul for an inocuous foul in the middle of the pitch.

There was no way back for Glencairn after that, and after Turner saved well from Woods again at the back post after a deep cross, Thistle increased their lead to 3-0 in the final minute of the game, substitute Murray Watson beating the offside trap and flicking the ball past Turner from the edge of the penalty area to complete a miserable afternoon for the visitors.

Co-manager Scott Smith wasn't too downbeat after the game though, and he commented, "We were very poor in the second half. There's a lot of work to be done yet. We had some key players missing which didn't help, but we will sort it, there's no panic."

East Kilbride Thistle :- Murdoch, Struthers, Sangster, Kelly, McGhee, Jordan, Ballantyne, Williamson, McClung, Watt (Watson), Woods. (Subs not used - Watson, Koukos, Feeney and Moore.)

Rutherglen Glencairn :- Turner, Kerr (Barr), Palmer, White, Paul, McShane, Henry (Thomson), O'Keane, McDougall, Carr (Trialist), Fraser. (Subs not used - Kane, Trialist, Trialist and McNeil (gk)).

Man of the match - (Chosen by Jim Keith) Craig Palmer has made a very positive start to his time at The Glens and his performance again today was one of the encouraging things to take out of this game.

 Craig Palmer

Wednesday 29th July 2009 - Central Sectional League Cup Group 4     

(Report by Peter Ferguson) 

Tony Fraser takes on the Vale defence in the first half.

The Glens got their season underway with a trip to Tollcross to take on Stagecoach West Region Super Premier League side Vale of Clyde. It was a tough match to start the campaign, and it turned out to be a frustrating evening for the visitors from the league below their hosts.

Glencairn included four of their six summer signings in their starting line-up, including all three of the players signed from Vale of Clyde. Vale's substitute bench included a new signing also, former Glens midfielder Joe Hayes, so it was familiar faces all round for both sets of fans.

The match took some time to get going in terms of goalmouth incidents, although the home side had a territorial advantage. Vale playmaker Thomas Sinclair had a couple of shots from distance that had gone narrowly wide, but the home side broke the deadlock with the first clear-cut chance of the game in the 17th minute. Alan Jack played a diagonal ball along the ground and in behind the Glencairn defence, and Andy Kenna didn't need to break stride as he side-footed the ball past goalkeeper Steven McNeil to put the home side 1-0 ahead.

Vale were well on top now, and The Glens were showing little in the way of threat. McNeil kept the visitors in the game with a great save down low after a brilliant turn and shot by Scott Hadden on the edge of the penalty area.

Gradually the Rutherglen side started to get a grip on things, and after Paul McLaughlin had seen a free kick deflected wide of the post, Vale keeper Stephen Johnstone made a good save at the feet of Paul Thompson as he ran into the angle of the penalty area.

Sinclair was controlling the match for Vale though, and he brilliantly set up Hadden for what seemed a certain goal in the 40th minute, but the shot from 6 yards out was blocked by McNeil's legs and the ball flew to safety. Just before the interval Vale right back Lee Morrison was booked for a bad tackle on Palmer, and then was lucky not to receive another yellow only moments later for another late challenge on O'Keane.

The Glens ended the opening period on the front foot, with firstly McLaughlin heading over the bar from the impressive Craig Palmer's cross, and then Tony Fraser beating several players on a run from deep (pictured above) before firing his cross in with too much weight.

Half-time : 1-0

The second half was a completely different story as The Glens upped their game after some stern words from managers Willie Patterson and Scott Smith. Vale were first to threaten, however, and Sinclair was at the heart of it again as he headed over the bar from close range.

Glencairn were unfortunate not to equalise in the 53rd minute when Johnstone punched a ball straight to McLaughlin, but the Glens striker's shot was blocked by his own team-mate David Carr on its way towards goal. A minute later McLaughlin threatened again, but his low shot was blocked by the legs of Vale full back George McNamee.

The Glens withdrew Paul Thomson and David Carr at this point, and replaced them with Ryan McArdle and Paul McDougall respectively, and this increased the momentum towards the home goal. McDougall's first touch was a dangerous cross which flew across goal with no takers, and then a long ball by David Barr released Fraser on the left, but his fierce low shot was well saved and held by Johnstone.

The pressure continued though, and Fraser's corner in the 62nd minute was met by the head of Barr on the 6-yard line, but again Johnstone saved on the goal line. Two minutes later Johnstone was beaten as Palmer's cross was headed goalwards by McDougall, but the ball crashed off the underside of the bar, bounced on the line and spun out to safety. We all suspected at that point that it just wasn't Glencairn's night.

The game exploded in the 71st minute when Thomas Sinclair was shown a straight red card for an over-the-ball challenge on Glens midfielder Stephen O'Keane. Three minutes later and the red card was flashed another twice, when Vale midfielder Andy Kenna again brought down O'Keane with a late challenge, and Glens full back Steven Kerr was also shown red for pushing Kenna to the ground before the referee could deal with the situation.

So it was 9 v 10 as we moved into the final fifteen minutes, and The Glens upped the pressure with the extra man. McDougall had another chance to equalise in the 82nd minute when he got his head to McArdle's cross, but the ball flew narrowly wide of Johnstone's right hand post.

As Glencairn threw men forward to try to rescue the game, there was always the chance of a breakaway. And so it proved, as Vale doubled their lead in the 83rd minute, substitute Derek Anderson hitting a speculative shot from 30 yards out on the touchline, with flew past McNeil and went into the net off the underside of the crossbar.

The Glens were back in the game with two minutes remaining, when finally they got on the scoresheet with Paul McLaughlin heading past Johnstone from McArdle's deep cross to make the score 2-1.

  Paul McLaughlin

But any hopes of a Glencairn equaliser were quickly extinguished when, in the 90th minute, goalkeeper Steven McNeil tried to dribble out of his penalty area, but got into trouble as he was closed down by Derek Anderson, who blocked the ball and then rolled it into the empty net.

There was still time for some more drama, as Lee Morrison of Vale was sent off in the 93rd minute for yet another bad tackle after his two just before the interval. But there was no way back for The Glens as the home side went top of the section after the first round of matches.

Co-manager Scott Smith commented, "We never got started in the first half and we were poor. We were much better in the second half, but we need to start taking our chances."

Vale of Clyde :- Johnstone, Lee Morrison, McNamee, Scott, Bryan Morrison, Kenna, Sinclair, Jack (Hayes), Dunn, Halliday (Mackin), Hadden (Anderson). (Subs not used - McLean, McAlpine and Connolly.)

Rutherglen Glencairn :- McNeil, Kerr, Palmer (Trialist), Trialist, Barr, Gentile, Thomson (McArdle), O'Keane, Carr (McDougall), McLaughlin, Fraser. (Subs not used - Turner (gk), McShane, Hopkins and Kane.)

Man of the match - (Chosen by Peter Ferguson) Craig Palmer was the best Glencairn player on the park throughout the 90 minutes, linking well with Tony Fraser on the left, looking solid defensively and also delivering some very dangerous crosses.

 Craig Palmer

Saturday 25th July 2009 - Friendly match     (Report by Peter Ferguson)

Ryan McArdle takes on the Largs Thistle defence early in the match.

The Glens brought the curtain down on their pre-season preparations with a narrow defeat away to West Region Super Premier League side Largs Thistle. Glencairn will face seven trips into Ayrshire in their Super League Division One campaign which starts in 3 weeks, and the team will be encouraged by their performance away from home against the team who were convincing champions of last season's competition. It was an interesting clash of two teams who had won their respective league titles last season, and there wasn't much between the sides on the day.

There was a much more recognisable look to the Glencairn line-up, with only two trialists included in the matchday squad of 17 players, which was still missing the injured Chris Hughes, Davie Dickson and Stephen McGladrigan, and the unavailable Paul Thomson and Chris Hopkins.

The home side took some time to get going in the match and it was their lower league visitors who were on the front foot in the early stages of the match. The first real chance of the game fell to Glencairn's trialist centre-half who sent a free header at the back post wide of the post after an accurate cross by Tony Fraser.

Largs goalkeeper Stephen Connick was kept busy early on and he got down well to save a low drive by Chris Gentile after a clever combination by Carr and McArdle had set the midfielder up. Paul McLaughlin almost put The Glens ahead after 11 minutes when he volleyed narrowly over after a corner had fallen into his path.

Largs gradually got to grips with proceedings, however, and exerted a spell of pressure on the Glencairn back line. Steven McNeill had to make a smart save from a close-range header by Ross McMillan after an outswinging cross by Thistle playmaker Ryan Deas. Largs had control of the match for a 10-minute spell in the middle of the first half, and Deas in particular was catching the eye as he seemed to be at the heart of most of the moves.

Towards the half hour mark, though, The Glens started to threaten again, and firstly McArdle brought Connick into the action with a low left-foot shot, and then the wide midfielder crossed for McLaughlin to flick the ball just over the crossbar.

Glencairn were extremely unfortunate not to take the lead in the 35th minute when Fraser rolled the ball into the path of Chris Gentile, and the midfielder hit a sweet shot from 20 yards which smacked off the inside of the post and rebounded out to safety, with Connick well beaten.

As half-time approached tempers started to flare slightly and the referee tried hard to keep a lid on what was a well-contested friendly, without having to produce too many cards. Three players did see yellow just before the interval, which seemed to take the sting out of things.

Half-time : 0-0

Glencairn were first to threaten at the start of the second period, McLaughlin twice setting up strike partner David Carr for shots at goal from the angle of the penalty area, but Connick saved both efforts comfortably on his 6-yard line.

Glens' left back Craig Palmer made an important challenge at the near post to block out the threat of a goal from Gary Davidson after a dangerous cross to the near post by Largs substitute William McLure. Palmer disputed the award of a corner, however, and the referee as good as acknowledged his error by giving a predictable free kick for next to nothing as soon as the cross came over.

A string of substitutions by both sides broke up the flow of the game for a period of about ten minutes, and it was the 72nd minute before the next chance of any note arrived. Paul McLaughlin was released through on goal and was brought down on the edge of the penalty area (pictured below), but as the visiting fans yelled for a foul the referee pulled play back for offside against Glencairn's new striker.

Paul McLaughlin is brought down as he runs through on goal, but was given offside.

Alan McCabe pulled a save out of Glens' substitute goalkeeper Davie Turner with a low shot on the turn on the edge of the penalty area, and then at the other end McLaughlin brilliantly set up Tony Fraser with a delightful flick, but the wide man poked at the ball with his right foot instead of hammering it with his preferred left foot, and the shot went tamely past the post.

Just as it looked inevitable that the game was going to end in an entertaining but goalless draw, the deadlock was broken with only four minutes remaining. It was a poor goal for The Glens to lose as well. A free kick by Deas was misjudged in the air by the central defence, and the ball broke kindly into the path of Alan McCabe, and the Largs midfielder turned the ball into the net past Turner from 12 yards out.

The Glens threw everthing forward in an attempt to rescue a draw from a game that they really didn't deserve to lose, and Connick plucked a fierce goal-bound shot by McLaughlin out of the air after 89 minutes. Connick then went one better with an outstanding save in the final minute after McLaughlin again produced some brilliance. McLaughlin lobbed the ball over his marker and fired in a dipping angled shot from all of 35 yards that was flying into the net before the Largs keeper produced a simply superb save, diving backwards to claw the ball away just before it crossed the line. That was Glencairn's last chance to equalise, and the referee blew for full time shortly afterwards.

Co-manager Scott Smith wasn't too annoyed by the defeat, and was more interested in the quality of the performance against a team who were the benchmark for the league last season. After the match he commented, "It was a good game and we played well. We made one bad mistake which led to the goal, but overall there were more positives than negatives." Willie Patterson added, "We just seem to be missing a wee spark in the final third, hopefully Davie Dickson will give us that when he comes back. But we're pleased with how we competed."

Largs Thistle :- Connick, Burgess, Mullin, Walton, McMillan, McCabe, Davidson, Deas, Marks, John Paul Dow, Barnes. (Subs :- Monaghan, McClure, Martin Dow, Molloy, Jamieson, Gallagher, Greenwood (gk).)

Rutherglen Glencairn :- McNeil (Turner), Kerr, Palmer, Trialist (Paul), Barr (Kane), Gentile (McShane), McArdle (Trialist), O'Keane, Carr (McDougall), McLaughlin, Fraser.

Man of the match - (Chosen by Alan Rae) Stephen O'Keane produced a performance full of energy in the middle of the park and just shades the award ahead of Ryan McArdle who was a constant threat on the right wing.

 Stephen O'Keane

Tuesday 21st July 2009 - Friendly match      (Report by Peter Ferguson)

David Carr turns away from his marker in the second half.

The Glens played their 3rd game in 4 days tonight and got their first win of their pre-season schedule, but in truth it was a low-key performance from the West Region Super League Division One side who did just enough to edge the win over their Central District League opponents.

All six of Glencairn's summer acquisitions were in the starting line-up for this game at the brand new Toryglen Regional Football Centre in the shadow of Hampden Park, and with another 11 players (including six trialists) standing on the sidelines it was never going to be a night where any player was on the park for the full 90 minutes.

Glencairn were first to threaten when Chris Hopkins slipped a pass through to the on-rushing Stephen O'Keane after 5 minutes, but the midfielder pulled his shot narrowly wide of the United goalkeeper's right hand post.

The Glens fans only had to wait a couple of minutes more for the opening goal. Again Hopkins was the provider from midfield, lifting a clever pass over the Cumbernauld defence. It looked like the United keeper had blocked the danger, but first to react to the loose ball was new striker Paul McLaughlin, who produced a smart finish from a tight angle to put The Glens 1-0 ahead.

United were very much in the match, however, and there was a warning for Glencairn in the 10th minute when new goalkeeper Davie Turner had to produce a smart diving save after defender Steven Kerr had chested the ball back to him from the 6-yard line.

The scores were level after 15 minutes, and it was a defensive calamity for The Glens. A seemingly harmless ball over the top saw Turner and Glencairn's trialist centre half get in a muddle, and United's Martin O'Neill lifted the ball past them both and into the empty net.

The Glens immediately went back onto the front foot and created a series of opportunities to go back in front. Chris Paul sent a free header wide of the post, and Ryan McArdle sent an angled shot over the crossbar, before Glencairn finally did go back in front in the 22nd minute. A free kick was awarded just outside the left angle of the penalty area, and Paul McLaughlin stepped forward to drive an unsaveable shot into the postage stamp corner of the net, a terrific strike for his 3rd goal in 3 games since joining the club.

The lead should have been increased as half-time approached, but chances were squandered. Firstly David Carr was denied by the United goalkeeper's legs after being released through on goal by another great pass by Hopkins. Shortly afterwards McLaughlin had the chance to complete a first-half hat-trick when he was set up cleverly by Carr, but he fired narrowly over the bar with the outside of his right foot under strong pressure from a covering United defender.

The final chance of the first half fell to Cumbernauld, when former Glens midfielder Phil Barclay had Turner scrambling across his goal to make sure Barclay's angled drive didn't hit the target, but the ball flew narrowly wide of the right-hand post.

Half-time : 2-1

It's fair to say that the second half was not one of the most memorable halves of football that I've ever watched ! Glencairn made 9 substitutions at the interval, and another 2 shortly afterwards, as the entire starting XI was withdrawn and other options were looked at.

Cumbernauld had by far the better of the opportunities as the second half developed, particularly around the hour mark. First of all United's no.8 fired over Glens substitute goalkeeper Steven McNeil's crossbar when he really should have hit the target, then Cumbernauld's no.11 had two curling left-footed efforts, one which flew over the bar and another which pulled a smart save out of McNeil.

It was somewhat of a surprise on the balance of play, therefore, when The Glens increased their lead in the 65th minute. Lee McShane burst past a couple of tackles into the penalty area and was upended inside the area, and referee Mr Alasdair Ross had no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot. Paul McDougall took the spot kick and efficiently sent the United keeper the wrong way to put The Glens 3-1 ahead.

 Paul McDougall

To be fair to United, they didn't let their heads drop at this point, and they came battling back into the game again. United's no.11 had yet another attempt on goal fly wide, and then Barclay had a drive from the other side that once again failed to test McNeil as it was off target.

Just as it looked like Glencairn were holding on comfortably to their 2-goal lead going into the final stages, United pulled a goal back in the 85th minute, when Cumbernauld's no.6 curled an excellent free-kick into the top corner of the net past the outstretched hand of McNeil, a very similar strike to McLaughlin's earlier in the game.

But The Glens held on for the win after that, although it was clear from their body language at the side of the park that managers Scott Smith and Willie Patterson were far from happy with what they had watched, particularly in the second half.

Smith didn't mince his words after the game. "That was poor. We got next to nothing out of that game tonight. Maybe some of the players were tired after the two games over the weekend, but they should still be able to pass the ball better than they did tonight. The only positives we got tonight were the performance of Paul McLaughlin and giving Stephen O'Keane a chance to stretch his legs after his holiday, but very few others performed to what they're capable of."

Team :- Turner (McNeil), Kerr (Trialist), Paul (Barr), Trialist (Kane), Palmer (Trialist), Thomson (Trialist), O'Keane (Gentile), Hopkins (McShane), McArdle (Trialist), McLaughlin (McDougall), Carr (Trialist). (Sub not used - Fraser.)

Man of the match - (Chosen by Peter Ferguson) Paul McLaughlin scored twice and was a constant threat to the Cumbernauld back line, and showed an excellent workrate throughout his first half appearance.

Sunday 19th July 2009 - Class One Cup (Beith Juniors pre-season tournament)

(Report by Peter Ferguson)

Tony Fraser almost scores the winner for The Glens late in the match.

Glencairn continued their pre-season preparations with the second of two matches in two days at the Class One Cup pre-season tournament at Beith, with a young Partick Thistle XI providing the opposition in the 3rd & 4th place play off.

There were eight changes to the starting line-up from the previous day's narrow defeat to Clydebank, and there were debuts for new goalkeeper David Turner and young midfield signing Chris Hopkins.

The Glens were quickly onto the front foot and had Thistle goalkeeper Scully working hard. The young stopper made an excellent parry to deny an angled drive by Tony Fraser after only five minutes, and then Fraser turned provider as he set up Paul McDougall for a great chance, but the striker fired narrowly over the crossbar.

Hopkins set up another chance for McDougall after 12 minutes, firing across the 6-yard box, but the ball bounced awkwardly off the Glens striker and rebounded to safety for Thistle. Scully made another excellent save after 18 minutes when Tony Kane headed towards goal, but the Thistle goalkeeper dived at full length to beat away the effort.

Partick's youngsters gradually got to grips with things and started to threaten the Glencairn defence, and Turner had to make a smart save down low when Tully turned away from Chris Paul and fired in a snapshot. Another chance opened up for Thistle a few minutes later when Burns got in behind Steven Kerr, but his angled shot was off target and Turner left it to roll to safety.

Play swung back to the other end and on the half hour Scully made another terrific save to keep the scoreline blank. An inswinging corner from Hopkins was met by the head of Chris Paul on the 6-yard line and a goal seemed certain, until Scully once again produced a brilliant block to send the ball out for another corner.

The game was a fairly even contest as half-time approached, and Thistle had a great chance to take the lead after 35 minutes when Chris Paul took his eye off the ball and allowed Thistle striker Burns to run through on goal, but Turner stood up to the threat and blocked the effort.

Thistle's best chance of the first half came shortly before the interval when Dunbar sent an angled cross right into the path of Clelland 12 yards from goal, but his volley flew over Turner's crossbar.

You could sense a goal was not far away in the game, and Glencairn almost took the lead on the stroke of half-time when Thistle defender Lochead deflected a cross onto his own post, and the ball rebounded fortunately into the hands of goalkeeper Scully to keep the scoreline blank at the interval.

Half-time : 0-0

The second half started in similar fashion to the opening period, with Glencairn on the front foot and Thistle taking some time to get into their stride. But the Central District League champions didn't have their shooting boots on, and continued to squander chances to take the lead.

Paul McDougall thought he had scored when he turned away from McDemott and lifted a lobbed shot over Thistle's substitute goalkeeper Shepherd, but the ball dropped inches over the bar. Tony Fraser was next to test the Thistle back line, his shot being deflected goalwards by McDermott, and Shepherd did well to adjust his feet and save the ball on the goal line.

It seemed inevitable that The Glens would take the lead in the 53rd minute, but once again two clear-cut chances were wasted. First of all Chris Hopkins' shot was saved by a diving Shepherd, and then Palmer lifted the loose ball right onto the head of McDougall. The striker's goal attempt was off target, but Fraser retrieved the ball on the goal line and fired back across goal, only to see the ball deflected off two players and out of the penalty box to safety for Thistle.

Partick were still a threat, however, and having created several good chances of their own in the first half there was always a danger that Glencairn's misses would come back to haunt them. And so it proved in the 53rd minute, when Thistle took the lead, substitute Sweeney lifting a sweet shot from the edge of the penalty area over Turner and into the net to make it 1-0 to the young senior side.

It didn't take long for The Glens to get back on level terms, however, although they literally got a helping hand on the way. Only a minute after the deadlock had been broken, Glencairn were awarded a corner. Ryan McArdle fizzed the ball across goal, and Shepherd tried to punched the ball clear but could only punch it against the inside of his own post and the ball flew into the net to make the scoreline 1-1. Own goals by goalkeepers are rare events, but that is clearly what this goal was, nice as it would have been to give the credit to McArdle. Glencairn tried to build quickly on that equaliser, and Fraser's cross was headed into the side-netting from 6 yards out by McArdle.

Both sides fancied their chances of winning the match and there was pressure at both ends as both teams had a good attitude to what was essentially just a fitness exercise. Glencairn made a total of 7 substitutions which broke up the rhythm of the game somewhat. Tony Fraser thought he had put Glencairn ahead when he ran through on goal and shot past Shepherd (pictured above) but Lochead got back to block the shot on the goal line.

With 15 minutes remaining Turner had to move sharply to his right to stop a swerving free kick by Thistle midfielder Dunbar. But as the game drew to a close it was the Rutherglen side who seemed likely to grab the winner. First of all substitute striker Paul McLaughlin went close when he turned away from his marker and fired narrowly wide, and then there was a strong shout for a penalty kick with 2 minutes remaining when McLaughlin appeared to be bundled over in the penalty area in the act of shooting.

The best chance to win the game came in the final minute. Fraser's corner from the right swerved right onto the head of Lee McShane who was unmarked on the 6-yard box, but the big midfielder sent his header agonisingly inches wide of the post, and the last chance to win the game was gone.

With no trophy on offer for 3rd place, the clubs sensibly decided to share 3rd place at the final whistle and no penalty shoot-out took place. Glencairn co-manager Willie Patterson commented after the game, "We just didn't have our shooting boots on this weekend, but that'll come. It's all been about fitness and getting the new guys integrated, and looking at a few prospects, so it's been a good exercise for us." Scott Smith added, "We did ok, it's been a good couple of days, and the results didn't quite go for us, but that was never what this weekend was about. We're happy with what we've seen."

Team :- Turner, Kerr (Palmer), Trialist (Trialist), Paul (Barr), Kane, Gentile (McShane), Trialist (McArdle), Hopkins (Trialist), McDougall, Thomson (McLaughlin), Fraser.

Man of the match - (Chosen by Alan Dickson) - Tony Kane started his first game since injuring his knee in March, and looked like he'd never been away, as he strolled through the match. A special mention was also reserved for the impressive debut of midfielder Chris Hopkins.

 Tony Kane

Saturday 18th July 2009 - Class One Cup (Beith Juniors pre-season tournament)

(Report by Peter Ferguson)

Highlights of the goals from the match. (Thanks once again to John Dunbar)

The Glens got their pre-season match schedule underway in the sunshine of North Ayrshire as they visited Beith to take part in the local side's pre-season tournament, the Class One Cup, with Clydebank providing Glencairn's opposition in the semi-final.

As usual at this time of year, both sides were sprinkled with new signings and trialists, and it is hard to take much relevance out of the results of these games as managers try to get their full squads match fit and find the best players for the various positions up for grabs. However it's fair to say that Glencairn will have taken a fair degree of confidence out of this performance against a side who are the bookies' favourites to win the Stagecoach West Region Super League Division One this season, and the result did not reflect the balance of play over the 90 minutes.

The early stages saw the teams slowly moving through the gears and there wasn't much in the way of goalmouth action. The first incident of note came in the 15th minute when new Glens striker Paul McLaughlin fired decisively into the net after a square pass from Tony Fraser, but the goal was disallowed for offside against the Glencairn midfielder.

Clydebank's first serious attempt at goal came after 18 minutes when midfielder Maxwell fired harmlessly over Glens goalkeeper Steven McNeil's crossbar. Most of the play was flowing towards Tiropolous in the Clydebank goal, however, and a David Barr header was deflected for corner, from which Lee McShane sent a looping header narrowly over the crossbar.

It was no surprise, therefore, when The Glens took the lead on the half-hour mark. The Clydebank defence made a meal of clearing a loose ball on the edge of the penalty area, and when the second attempted clearance failed Paul McLaughlin didn't have to be asked twice as he fired a left foot shoot decisively past Tiropolous to score his first goal for his new club and make the scoreline 1-0 to Glencairn.

The lead was almost doubled 8 minutes later when McLaughlin brilliantly set up Fraser with a back-heel flick, but the midfielder lifted his right foot shot narrowly over the crossbar. The Glens continued to control proceedings, and McLaughlin went close again as he volleyed over the bar from 15 yards out.

Shortly before the interval, however, Clydebank exerted some pressure on the Glencairn defence for the first time in the match, and when a corner was cleared off the line by David Barr, Stevie Dymock was on hand to volley in the equaliser from 4 yards out to make the scoreline level at the interval, which was harsh on The Glens given the dominance they had enjoyed to that point.

Half-time : 1-1

There were no changes to either line-up at the start of the second half, and the pattern continued as play flowed generally towards the Clydebank goal. Tony Fraser had a fierce shot parried by Tiropolous as the Glens midfielder seemed to be forming a fruitful partnership with new full back Craig Palmer, who was catching the eye with his supporting runs up the left flank.

Dymock had a half-chance to put Clydebank in front as the Glencairn defence went to sleep momentarily and the striker found himself through on goal, but he stumbled and allowed McNeil to block him at his feet before he could shoot.

Palmer and Fraser were now causing all sorts of problems for the Clydebank defence, and Tirpolous made another good save from a stinging shot by Fraser, before Palmer ran the length of the park to win a corner and then fired inches wide of goal with a shot from 20 yards out.

Both teams started to make substitutions around the hour mark, as is the norm in these games, and it seemed to disturb the rhythm which Glencairn had to their play. Clydebank took the lead against the run of play after 62 minutes when John Jack pounced on a loose ball on the edge of the area and placed an accurate shot into the corner of the net with McNeil seemingly unsighted.

Paul McLaughlin seemed keen to get the scoreline back on level terms straight away and he skipped past a few challenges on the edge of the penalty area before being blocked out by a strong challenge by Maxwell before the Glens striker could get his shot away.

The game was broken up by lots of substitutions at this stage and neither side really created much until the closing minutes of the game. Campbell sent a free header wide of goal for Clydebank with 6 minutes remaining, and then at the other end Tiropolous saved well down low after Glencairn's trialist midfielder was released on the right of the penalty area by a delightful pass by Paul Thomson.

But The Glens couldn't get the equaliser and so Clydebank moved through to the final against hosts Beith Juniors, and Glencairn went on to meet a Partick Thistle XI in the 3rd & 4th place play-off.

Co-manager Willie Patterson was pleased with what he had seen in his side's first outing of the pre-season. "There were a lot of positives today. We controlled the game for an hour, and that's against one of the favourites for our league, so that was encouraging. We lost it for about 10-15 minutes in the second half, but overall we can be pleased with our afternoon's work."

Team :- McNeil, Kerr (Trialist), Barr, Trialist, Palmer (Paul), McArdle (Trialist), Trialist (Gentile), McShane, Fraser, McLaughlin (McDougall), Carr (Thomson). (Sub not used - Kane.)

Man of the match - (Chosen by Peter Ferguson) Craig Palmer linked well all afternoon with Tony Fraser down the left flank and almost got his name on the scoresheet in the second half.

  Craig Palmer