Team talk helps shoot new life into survival chances

Struggling Tayport went to the home of the reigning Super League champions more in hope than expectation of returning to the Canniepairt with all three points.

Signs didn’t look good when Stuart Cargill fired Kelty into a second half lead - only for Ovenstone’s men to respond to his words and fight back to seal a 2-1 win.

The gaffer said: “In the team talk before the game, I was very frank with the players. It was a case of ‘this is it.’

“They needed to go out and give us everything if we were going to give ourselves a chance of staying in the Super League.

“We set up in the same way we did when we won the cup tie at Central park earlier in the season, keeping a good shape and denying them space to run into.

“Great credit to the players, as they carried out instructions to the letter.”

The win gives Tayport a fighting chance of beating the drop as they scrap it out with a host of clubs to preserve their Super League status.

This weekend, the battle is taken to Hill o Beath.

“They are safe in mid-table so we need to go there and collect three points,” said Ovenstone.

“I reckon three wins from the last five games will see us out of the bottom two and leave us facing a play-off.”