Kennoway notch second successive victory

Kennoway Star Hearts 2

Kennoway built promisingly on their midweek win over Armadale when they visited Midlothian on Saturday.

With the absentees from the away line-up totalling seven, it was another match where the strength of the squad was going to be tested to the full.

A very positive start saw Kennoway with a lot of the ball and they had a glorious chance to open the scoring inside the 12th minute.

A crisp passing move from defence through to attack saw Partridge,Binnington and Craig all involved before a flick from Byers allowed Wilson the opportunity from 15 yards but the forward pulled his shot across the face of the goal and wide.

Two minutes later, though, Band made no mistake as he pounced on a defensive blunder to guide his shot into the far corner from 10 yards.

On the half-hour, Shaw saw a teasing run brought crudely to an end when he was hauled down inside the penalty area for the referee to point immediately to the spot.

Band hit the ball to McQueen’s left but the ‘keeper chose correctly and pulled off a solid save.

This galvanised the home side and they proceeded to have their best spell of the half. A slick passing move saw a back-heel free up striker Weir, who stabbed the ball instinctively. Paterson was alert to the danger as he smothered the effort.

With Shaw suffering an injury, a slight reshuffle at half time saw Murdoch replace the tricky winger.

Kennoway settled well again and started to enjoy long spells of possession, but a constant downpour started to make conditions difficult for both teams.

Wilson had a great chance to grab a goal when he surged clear of his marker, the forward looked to have been impeded inside the area but he still managed to get his shot away, the ball rebounded to Craig who stung the fingertips of McQueen with a piledriver of a shot.

Binnington made a surging run that saw him evade a few tackles before he checked inside and forced McQueen to save with his feet.

Kennoway’s second goal was a simple affair, with Band winning an aerial duel to flick the ball forward for Wilson to gallop clear, shooting home from the edge of the box with 20 minutes remaining.

The last effort of any real note came from the boot of Davidson, as the midfielder unleashed a howitzer of an effort from a Binnington pass. McQueen was up to the task with a one-handed save.

Kennoway SH – Paterson, Partridge, Doig, Young, Craig, Binnington, Davidson, Byers, Shaw, Band, Wilson. Subs: Murdoch, Mann, Mackie, Sutherland.

Kennoway’s next game is a home fixture with Bathgate Thistle this Saturday at 2.30pm.