Kevin Rutkiewicz says he couldn't have scripted it any better after his skipper Gary Miller proved to be the hero at both ends as East Kilbride edged their Lanarkshire derby with Cumbernauld Colts.
The defensive midfielder netted the only goal of the game at K-Park as his 64th minute header put Kilby - who had seen Neil McLaughlin's penalty saved moments earlier - three points clear of Rangers B at the top of the Lowland League table.
But he had to come to the rescue at the other end in stoppage time when he headed Craig Holmes' strike off the line to deny Colts a certain equaliser.
It sees Kilby return to winning ways in the fifth tier after a defeat to Edinburgh Uni and a draw with East Stirling in their last two league outings and Rutkiewicz was delighted with his captain's contribution.
He beamed: "We could have felt a bit sorry for ourselves after the penalty miss but we kept banging the door to try and find an answer.
"Eventually we got the goal and I'm delighted with that.
"It comes from a set-play and our captain standing up, so that was brilliant.
"And then he has the clearance at the end as well.
"He's found himself in two positions he has got no right to be in.
"It's not something we've worked on, that's for sure, but you couldn't write the script any better.
"We obviously noticed that Cumbernauld had brought everybody back and it allowed us to put Gary in the box, and he's taken full advantage of that.
"At the other end he has shown a bit experience there, showing his nous to fall into a position where he feels there might be a sense of danger.
"It's a terrific goal-line clearance so he is definitely the hero of the day.
"I thought we had more chances but Cumbernauld could definitely have scored, there's no doubt about that.
"I think the game could have finished 6-4.
"It looks like it was tight and turgid, but I thought it was a good game and very competitive.
"I thought they caused us as many problems as we caused them.
"We edged it on chances and I'm delighted that we've found a way to win in a derby game."
EK are now three clear of Gers, who were sidelined this weekend due to international call-ups and have played two games fewer.
They also five points clear of third-place Civil Service Strollers having played a game more and Rutkiewicz is content with their start to the season, which also includes last week's Scottish Cup first round win over Deveronvale.
He added: "We had a bad few days in the league a couple of weeks ago but when you look at the bigger picture we are 8 [wins], 2 [defeats] and 1 [draw].
"It's not bad. It could be better, yeah, with 10 out of 10 but eight wins from the first 11 games is not a disaster.
"There are bits to improve on but we've got points on the board and other teams have to make up that gap."
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