Neilston launched themselves up the WoSFL First Divison table with an impressive away win against title hopefuls Gartcairn.
The hosts were firm favourites for the clash, going into the game with home advantage and sitting top of the table.
But the Farmer’s Boys raced into the lead when Tam McGaughey was hauled down by the hosts’ keeper – with the referee wasting no time in pointing to the spot.
Dylan Fletcher held his nerve to thump his side in front, with the East Renfrewshire side defending magnificently to bag back-to-back league wins for the first time since August last year.
Now sitting seven points above the relegation zone, manager Kevin Muirhead admits it’s been a sweet feeling to see his new side slowly click into gear over the last few weeks.
He told Renfrewshire Live Sport: “It was an absolutely fantastic result against Gartcairn. We knew this run of three games would be as tough as they come in this league, so to get three points in the first one was outstanding.
“What mattered most for me was that the boys exectuted the game plan for the full 90 minutes. We’ve managed it for 45 or 60 in recent games, but this was the first full game performance and the boys were excellent to a man.
“It was a clear penalty and Fletcher smashed it home brilliantly. Gartcairn threw everything at us, made three changes at half-time and went very offensive but we coped with everything they chucked at us.
“The plan recently has been to make us very hard to break down, because we know we’ve got boys up front that can get us goals.
“This result was proof that the boys were taking what we’ve been working on on board and as a manager you can’t ask for more than that. Even if we’d lost that game, I’d still have been proud of the team because they delivered what was asked of them.
“That makes us very excited as a coaching staff about what this team can achieve going forward.”
It doesn’t get any easier for the Farmer’s Boys, with new league leaders Drumchapel United set to visit the Brig O’Lea Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Muirhead hopes his side take confidence from their hard-fought win against Gartcairn and can put in a similarly stout performance.
He said: “Gartcairn are a fantastic football side and were joint-top of the league before we played them.
“Now Drumchapel are top, but we’ve got them at our place so why can’t we approach the game full of confidence and self-belief we can do the same again.
“We’ll be trying to keep it tight at the back again but we’ll also make sure we pose a threat at the other end and try to hurt Drumchapel when things open up for us.”
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