St Cuthbert Wanderers strengthened their position at the top of the South of Scotland League.
Second-half goals from Mark O’Rourke and Ross Hunter saw them defeat Lochmaben 2-0. The win, combined with Threave Rovers dropping points against Upper Annandale during the week, leaves the Kirkcudbright side nine points clear at the top of the table with just six league games to go.
However, boss Jordan Williamson warned: “It doesn’t change our internal targets. Seven and nine points doesn’t change much in terms of how you pick up points as it’s still a three-game buffer.
“Saturday was always going to be stuffy and difficult until we got the breakthrough in the second half. All credit to Lochmaben – they defended well and tried to kill the game and make it stuffy for us and hard to break down.
“I felt in the first half we were being a bit too direct. We explained to the players that we were being sucked in to a way of attacking that suited the way they defended and how they wanted the game to go.
“In the second half we found more space around the park and looked more dangerous towards goal. It was inevitable we were going to score at some point. Scoring a couple of goals so early in the second half cemented the three points and allowed us to move on and look forward.
“It’s one of those away ties where you’re just happy to come away with three points and a clean sheet makes it a bit sweeter.”
This weekend Saints are on Tweedy Cup duty and due to head to Lanarkshire to face Caley Braves.
And they’ll have to make do without skipper Ross Hunter who is suspended for the trip to face the French students.
Williamson said: “They’ve had a couple of good results in the past couple of weeks with a couple of wins in a couple of cups.
“They don’t change a lot in how they play. We understand the process of that squad is about developing players for the first team and getting students through their scholarship.
“We know it’ll be tough, they’re well organised and can break us down in spells so we need to make sure we’re switched on to that threat.
“It’s a quarter-final so it’s our first chance of reaching a semi-final and we need to make sure we do that on Saturday.
“The players are right up for it and looking to book some dates for the tail end of the season.”
