Johnstone Burgh boss Jamie McKim was delighted his promotion-chasing side kept the pressure up on their WoSFL First Division rivals.
And he paid tribute to teenage goalkeeper Lee Kilbride for stepping in and helping avoid another goalkeeping disaster between the sticks.
Efforts from Kieran Brophy and Thomas Cruden cancelled out Alastair Small’s early opener at Keanie Park on Saturday, with the three points ensuring Burgh stayed within touching distance of the top three promotion spots.
With replacement goalkeeper Lee Mitchell, brought to the club after Glen Cameron’s injury, hurting his hamstring in a training session before the game, the gloves fell to 19-year-old development squad number one Kilbride.
And McKim was impressed with how well the youngster dealt with the pressure on his home bow – picking up the man of the match award on his senior debut.
McKim told Renfrewshire Live Sport: “I thought the boys were excellent on a very tricky surface. The park was very heavy but we kept the ball down and kept playing through the thirds.
“My only gripe was that we could have scored a few more for how well we played, but ultimately it’s another three points on the board which is what we need to do.
“We need to keep pressure on the teams above us and the ones below us. We’re sitting fifth and we’re right in the mix. Teams around us have a few games in hand but that doesn’t always mean points in this division, as we see with results every week.
“Our replacement keeper did his hamstring through the week so we brought Lee Kilbride in from the Under-20s and he was excellent.
“He wasn’t overly busy but he did everything right. His handling was good, he was coming for crosses comfortably and it’s great to see young boys do so well when they’re given a chance.
“He got the man of the match award on his debut for the senior team so I’m sure he’d have been delighted with that.”
Burgh travel to North Lanarkshire this weekend to take on Shotts.
While John McKeown’s side are currently sitting in the drop zone, they have several games in hand on almost all the teams above them and McKim is not expecting an easy afternoon at Hannah Park.
McKim said: “We made it clear at the start of the season that, while we’d love to get promoted this season, having just been promoted our aim was to finish as high up the table as we possibly could.
“Shotts have only played 15 games this season. They’ve got six or seven games in hand on some teams, so they’re definitely in a false position as it stands.
“I’m sure they’ll be absolutely fine once they’ve caught up on games and we know it’s going to be difficult against a well-established side.”
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