​Last-minute leveller denies Gala Fairydean Rovers first league win v East Kilbride since 2015

​Manager Martin Scott’s side had fought back from falling 2-1 behind at half-time at home to East Kilbride at Netherdale to go 4-3 in front with just short of 20 minutes to play but ended up having to settle for a 4-4 draw and a share of the spoils with opponents reduced to nine men by red cards for John Robertson and Andy McDonald.

The hosts’ goals were scored by Lewis Hall on three minutes and 72, Joe Wylie on 46 and Liam Watt on 54.

On target for their opposition were Cami Elliott on 28 and 45, Jack Leitch on 66 and Tiwi Daramola on 89.

Daramola’s last-ditch equaliser denied the Borderers what would have been their first league win against Kilby since they got the better of them by 3-2 at home back in August 2015, having lost a dozen of their meetings in the interim and drawn the other one.

By way of consolation, though, their second point of the new season – and only their third since April – lifted them off the bottom of the table, leaving them 16th, on two points from six fixtures, ahead of a trip to Coatbridge’s Albion Rovers this coming Saturday, August 31, with kick-off at 3pm.

Rovers assistant manager Stevie Craig said that though they’d happily have accepted a point against East Kilbride ahead of the game, a draw felt more like a defeat after going in front against opposition they ended up outnumbering by two.

“I think I went through about 15 different emotions over the 90-plus minutes – highs, lows, frustrations, anger, disappointment,” he said.

“I think we’d probably have taken a point before the game but the way it panned out, with them going down to nine men, I know it was a draw but it felt like a defeat when the referee blew the final whistle.

“It’s just another postive that we’ve got to take forward after not a great start to the season. Four-four against a very, very talented and dangerous team isn’t a bad result.

“When you’re playing against a team of East Kilbride’s calibre, every time they go forward, they’ve got dangerous players in key areas, and obviously going 2-1 down, thanks to a mistake, was disappointing, but we just reiterated to the boys at half-time that our performance level was good and to forget about the mistake, and they did that.

“East Kilbride going down to nine men probably ruined the game a wee bit because even at ten, they were still really dangerous. They’re a good team – the way they move the ball, the way they’re organised, the way they’re coached.

“At 4-4 in the last five minutes, there were opportunities for us to grab a fifth goal but we just let ourselves down at key times.

“It’s another point and that’s us played the three best footballing teams in the league – East Kilbride, Celtic B and Hearts B – and our performance level has been really good against them.”

Next up for Fairydean after their away-day in North Lanarkshire at the weekend is a trip to Tranent next Tuesday, September 3, with kick-off at 7.45pm.