Johnstone Burgh boss Jamie McKim was delighted a number of his players stepped up with big performances to seal an eventful victory in the first round of the WoSFL Cup.
But the Keanie Park gaffer is gutted they won’t be able to impress on the park once again this weekend as they face a Saturday with their feet up when he’d much rather they were chasing league points.
The Burgh boss was impressed with his keeper Glen Cameron for making a “fantastic” double save at a crucial point with the score delicately balanced at 3-3.
He also praised super sub Thomas Cruden for stepping off the bench in the second half to bag a brace, adding to man-of-the-match Kieran Brophy’s double and Brian Connor’s decisive late strike.
With a fixtureless weekend coming up, McKim is hoping the league’s decision to not hand his side and several other First Division teams a match won’t come back to bite them when the winter weather hits and the inevitable postponements start to rack up.
McKim told Renfrewshire Live Sport: “It looked close from the scoreline but it was actually quite comfortable in the end.
“We were very open defensively. We’ve rotated in the cup games so far but it’s been important to give boys an opportunity.
“Glen made a fantastic double save to keep us level at 3-3. His distribution and communication throughout was superb too.
“Cruden had a hugely positive impact off the bench and Brophy was outstanding. That was one of his best ever performances for us.
“For me the real disappointment is we now have a free weekend. It’s so unfortunate because we wish we could have kept going.
“I’m not impressed at all with it. We tried to work out ways of getting another game brought forward because we know what it’s like when the winter weather sets in.
“Games will be getting called off and then the backlog starts at the other end of the season. There’s four teams in our division alone with free weekends which is really frustrating. Surely something else could have been worked out.”
While McKim would much rather be gearing his side up for action this Saturday, the Burgh boss insists he won’t waste the opportunity to get a sneak peek at his future opponents.
McKim said: “We’ve just got to try and turn this free weekend into a positive.
“We’ve got a chance to go and scout other teams we’re facing in the next month or so and hopefully we can pick up something useful from those games.
“We just have to try and make the most of a bad situation.”
READ MORE:
Don't miss the latest headlines from around Renfrewshire. Sign up to our newsletters here
