Jamie Longworth came in for some cynical tackling in this match but he responded in time honoured fashion ( and more ) by firing a fantastic five goals past the Glesga bin rakers and taking his tally for the season to 24.Ladeside hit six , had they doubled that , Maryhill couldnt have complained.
After 7 mins of serious assault on the Maryhill goal Ladeside took the lead , a cross on the left sw Longworth steal in to head past a keeper , who despite flapping and fannying all game denied The Blasties with some unorthodox saves.
Minutes later Ladeside lost the services of captain Anton Smith after he went crashing into the perimeter wall , Cochrane replaced him.Cochrane then had a thumping header saved before a rasping Harvey shot was deflected wide at the last second.Rankine should have done better with his low shot after the keeper had flapped at the corner.
Midway through the half Ladeside scored again.Kinney put Longworth through with a superb pass and the hitman placed the ball low into the far corner with his left peg.
Having got themselves in a position to put the game to bed early with the light out , Ladeside presented Hill with hope for the hopeless.Right through the middle of a static defence , under the advancing McCann , the wee peroxide pimp , ex - Beith batard Charlie Hobbs had an unlikely goal.
The goal gave Maryhill unwarranted encouragement and they enjoyed their best spell of the match , Ladeside still created chances , Longworth could have scored again and Harvey had a free kick turned over but it wasnt the free flowing fitba of earlier.
Was it going to be one of those games where Maryhill should have been dead and buried but would come back to haunt us.A lot of fans were begining to think so , especially when into the second half we were making chances galore but not taking them.
The fans fears were allayed on 64 mins when Ladeside struck a third.And a good goal it was.Great work from Kinney sent Longworth scampering down the wing and his low cross , though missed by Anderson , found Rankine and he side footed the ball into the net.
Gray replaced Collins before Longworth , after being on the end of another two footed challenge , pleaded with the ref for protection , he was rewarded with a yellow card.
On 74 mins Longworth was sent crashing inside the box , he picked himself up , the keeper went left , the ball went low the other side and Longworth had the perfect hat trick.Head , left foot , right foot.........and more to come.
Struthers , who had entered the fray looking for his first goal since returning to the club was more than unlucky when the keeper tipped a netbound effort over the bar and then saved one with his arse.During yet another stramash in the Maryhill box on 80 mins , Kinney then Struthers , then whoever , had shots blocked but the ball ran to Longworth at the far post and he smashed it into the net through a ruck of bodies.
Two mins later , Maryhill , against the run of play and all logic , got a second goal.A nothing ball into the box was bundled over the line with the Ladeside defence standing around scratching their balls.
Ladeside resumed surging forward and in the last minute , during yet another stramash , a Struthers shot was handled on the line.Both Kinney and Struthers debated over who was taking it but Longworth did.Once again the keeper went left and the ball went low the other side , Longworth had five , Ladeside had six.
Another 3 points , another away win and good to get back on the rails following the EKTH defeat.The home team were not very good at all but you can only beat up whats put in front of you......... be it Bellshill , Maryhill , Petershill or Benny Hill.
TEAM -- McCann , Caldwell , Smith , Quigley , Harvey , Collins , Rankine , Anderson , McGuinness , Kinney , Longworth.
SUBS -- Cochrane , Gray , Struthers , Todd , Rosenthal.

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Ladeside surrendered their unbeaten run in rather timid fashion and with it handed a league double to East Kilbride.
The Blasties though got off to a flying start in their first competitive match at Show Park ( Slum Park , more like ) in over 15 years when Quigley thumped home from outside the area following a corner on only 5 minutes.The home keeper could only parry out a stinging Harvey free kick 3 mins later , then up at the other end McCann dealt well with a Thistle free kick.Collins then fired over the bar as the match continued at a high tempo.
The first signs of distress in the Ladeside defence , that was to last all match , appeared on 16 mins when a long ball over the head of the pushed up Caldwell forced Smith to leave his position to cover.He never made it.The first shot was blocked , McCann made an excellent save of the second but the third was fired high into the net for the equaliser.
The game calmed down at this point , Ladeside had most of the play but EK were troubling the visitors 3 man defence with long balls down the flanks to their fast moving forwards.
McGuinness created the next chance when he picked out Caldwell but his cross cum shot went into the side netting.Another blistering attack down the wing on 33 mins should have seen EK go in front but McCann pulled off a tremendous save from a header only 4 yards out.Another save low to his left followed after a mistake by Harvey before Kinney missed a great chance to put Ladeside in the lead at the break , putting a free header from a corner wide of the post with the keeper rooted to the spot.
The second half was as poor as Ladeside have played all season.Thistle came out intent on lifting the tempo and Ladeside didnt respond.A combination of a system that didnt suit them and certain players not performing at their best led to EK pulling the strings and keeping Ladeside on the backfoot with their long balls over the defence into the wide open spaces on the wings.McGuinness couldnt get space in a crowded midfield to get the ball down and pass and Anderson was shut down everytime he tried to burst clear.
Two mins into the half Thistle struck , long ball over the head of Harvey , player ran onto it , bang , top corner , 2 - 1.The third goal midway through the half was perhaps even worse with The Bumbees defence having umpteen chances to clear a corner but the ball broke to Wozencroft ( a defender who had suffered a runaround while playing for the Burgh against Ladeside a few matches back ) sidefooting past the furious McCann.In fact but for the superb performance of McCann , it could have been many more.
Ladeside had two shots on target , McGuinness spurned a good opening then brought out a save from the underworked Thistle keeper with 5 mins remaining.If there were any more , i apologise but i cant recall them.
Its not the end of the world , having done so well in recent weeks perhaps an off day was inevitable , it was however a bad time to have it , allowing Thistle to leapfrog over us in the league.
You get the feeling however that if we had reverted back to our normal system 10 mins into the second half , we still could have got something from the match , Thistle are not any better than us , we just played right into their hands.
TEAM -- McCann , Smith , Quigley , Harvey , Caldwell , Collins , Anderson , McGuinness , Miller , kinney , Longworth.
SUBS -- Rankine , Struthers , Cochrane , Gray , Todd.

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Ladeside hit five goals ( with the standside lineslady producing a couple of boobies by chopping off a further two ) and at times produced some excellent fitba but in fairness the margin of victory was harsh on a Renfrew side that recovered well from losing an early goal to give Ladeside a real battle.
Ladeside were ahead in only 3 mins.Corner on the left , Quigley rose near post , head , bang , goal.Its ironic that Quigs having spent so long with The Frew should hit his first Ladeside goal against them.
Ladeside pushed looking for another and on 12 mins Anderson just screwed a shot wide after Collins had won a fierce tackle at the edge of the area.Kinney then headed just over the bar.
Renfrew were steadily coming into the match , and helped by an injury to Rankine , were taking control of the midfield.On 20 mins Ladeside survived a scare when a header smacked off the bar with McCann beaten.The Blasties though responed by going upfield and scoring again when Kinney beat the keeper to an Anderson pass and planted the ball low into the net.Even that failed to subdue the visitors though and on 28 mins they pulled a goal back via a rasping 25 yard free kick that went in off the post giving McCann no chance.
Ladeside were always dangerous going forward , with Anderson buzzing about like a rampant rabbit in a lesbian leper colony , chances were always going to be created.Harvey was unlucky with a long range scorcher that cracked the post before rebounding to safety behind the beaten Frew keeper.Then Harvey again saw the keeper , only just , claw his free kick over his bar.
McGuinness , who had replaced the toiling Rankine , resumed his normal midfield role after the break as Ladeside went to 3 at the back , loading the midfield , and putting pressure on the Renfrew defence.
Kinney had a goal disallowed on 55 mins but 2 mins later Longworth intercepted a passback near the touchline and with incredible accuracy turned and fired the ball past the advancing keeper in off the bar from 25 yards -- an astonishing finish.
McCann was forced into a save low to his left before Longworth had a goal ruled out.Longworth , though , was not to be denied and just after the hour he showed great composure ( as always ) to shoot home from the edge of the box for the fourth goal.3 mins later he should have had a hat trick but somehow headed a corner straight at the keeper from all of 2 yards out.
Just like the Troon match , the superior fitness of the Ladeside team was evident , Anderson shot inches wide then Kinney had a long range belter superbly turned round the post by The Frew keeper.Ladeside could have scored many more.
There was one further goal , on 81 mins a Renfrew defender attempted to head a Struthers cross back to his keeper but instead found the corner of his own net.It seemed typical of this Renfrew team who have scored 6 against Clydebank and lost 7 against Rob Roy in recent weeks , they are far from the worst team to lose 5 goals at the Vale.Indeed they finished the match by firing in two long range efforts that brought out good saves from McCann.
Ladeside march on in irresistable fashion , no supporter could ask any more from the team , the turnaround in fortunes has been staggering and the management and players deserve immense credit.
Lets keep it going.
TEAM -- McCann , Caldwell , Smith , Quigley , Harvey , Rankine , Collins , Anderson , Miller , Kinney , Longworth.
SUBS -- McGuinness , Cochrane , Struthers , Todd , Gray.

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With 65 minutes on the clock this game was in the balance.Ladeside having led 2 - 1 at the break were in the process of self destruction having conceeded a comical equaliser.Troon , who had been giving The Blasties massive problems with direct running at the centre of their defence were on the ascendency and a betting man would have been putting money on them to triumph.
However , by the final whistle Ladeside had all three points in the bag and could easily have ended the match with seven goals to their name.Quality subs deployed at the right time by manager Bryce coupled with the far superior fitness of the away team were the deciding factors in this match.
With both teams having played little football in the past few months the play was scrappy at the beginning but Troon soon gave Ladeside warning of what was to come when their No10 ( who was outstanding ) burst through the defence but Ryan Ward ( in for the unavailable McCann ) did well to turn the shot away for a corner.Ladeside had the ball in the net on 15 mins through Longworth but the goal was ruled out.
On 21 mins the Troon No10 again breeched the Ladeside defence but dragged his shot wide when he should have scored.However , Ladeside were simply not learning and on 30 mins the same man burst through again but this time buried the ball low past ward and into the net.
They say that teams are most vulnerable after they have just scored and this was proved again when The Blasties struck back a minute later.Good work down the right saw the ball played into the box and Kinney turned brilliantly to smash it low into the far corner of the net.
The rest of the half belonged to Ladeside and Longworth was aggrieved when he was denied , what would have been a great goal , struck high into the net but he was rightly judged offside.A minute before the break ladeside took the lead.Gray ( who was having a somewhat erratic match ) struck for goal and his shot was took a wicked deflection into the opposite corner of the net.Lucky goal but who cares.
Ladeside could have added another and it looked like they had finally gained the upper hand in the match but Troon aided by some shocking defending came blasting back at the start of the 2nd period and well deserved to level.Ward , Caldwell , Quigley , Mickey Mouse , Daffy Duck and Deputy Dawg were involved in the cartoon capers that led to it.Ladeside then had to clear off the goalline as Troon went for the jugular.
Davidson replaced Gray and Struthers made his first appearance since his return to the club coming on for the hard working Miller.The match quickly changed.
Ladeside upped the pace , began getting their passing game going and pushed Troon onto the back foot.Suddenly Troon were desperately clinging on for a point --- they were never going to get it.
Longworth went close with a curling shot that went inches over the bar then on 79 mins Ladeside struck.Davidson fired over a superb corner and Kinney bulleted a header high past the keeper for his 2nd and Ladeside's third.Two mins later Longworth hit No4.Picking up a pass , he steadied himself , slipped two challenges and stroked the ball into the far corner for an outstanding goal.Quality.
Kinney went looking for his hat trick and went close in 85 mins when a piledriver skelped the bar and went over then he fired wide when well placed.Just on the final whistle Longworth should have made it 5 when he missed the target from 8 yards.
In the end it was a hard earned win for The Blasties and what could prove to be a valuable 3 points.It was never going to be easy away to a team fighting for their lives at the foot of the table and without key players in McCann , McGuinness and Erskine --- and easy it certainly wasn't.
TEAM -- Ward , Caldwell , Smith , Quigley , Harvey , Collins , Anderson , Miller , Gray , Kinney , Longworth.
SUBS -- Davidson , Struthers , Cochrane , Rankine , Rosenthal.

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The game was hastily switched in the morning after the Vale was deemed unplayable and having not played for two weeks Ladeside were desperate for some action.However , moving the match was a potential banana skin.....if they lost , the cry would have been ........we fricken shouldnae have bothered.But they didnt lose , in fact The Blasties put up a gutsy , determined performance on a heavy surface and came away with an excellent win against the only team they failed to beat in the league last season ( 2 draws ) and on the only park in which they failed to score on.
Maybole were first to show and Ladeside keeper McCann had to pull off an outstanding save to deny them in the opening minute.Ladeside playing with the driving wind and rain at their backs in the first period were soon on the attack and The Bole were continually pressed back.
On 14 mins Ladeside were denied a stonewall penalty following a push in the box , then from a corner Anderson had a netbound effort well saved by the home keeper.Ladeside continued pressing and got their reward on 21 mins when an Erskine shot from another corner fell to McGuinness to rifle the opening goal high into the net.
Anderson , who was revelling in the difficult conditions , had a great run and cross but there were no takers , then on 33 mins , The Blasties doubled their lead.Longworth picked up the ball and strode forward before placing a shot from the edge of the area low into the net for a well taken 16th goal of the season.
McCann then had to produce another excellent save before Kinney had a goal chopped off for an infringement and on the half time whistle , the Ladeside support -- huddled together in the shed closer than they are likely to admit to their women folk -- warmed their hands applauding their team from the field.
Rankine replced Erskine at the break signaling that Maybole , now playing with the wind , were bound to be on the front foot....and so it proved to be.
The more the pitch cut up , the more the match became a midfield battle.Passing was almost impossible and although Maybole had by far the upper hand , The Blasties defence held firm.Quigley and Smith remained calm and collected and McCann dealt with anything that came his way ( which was a fair bit ) with confidence.
The introduction of ex - Medda and Cumnock hitman Paul Kerr -- who apart from bitch slapping him -- has been almost unplayable at times in his career , gave the home fans ??????? fresh hope , however , Quigley did a job on him.
The Bole had a good few shots on target and on another day things might have been different but Ladeside never looked like conceeding and in the final minute they stung the home side with a third.
Following excellent work on the left Kinneys powerful shot was too strong for the keeper and he couldnt prevent the ball from going through his hands and into the net.
A superb all round performance from Ladeside in extremely difficult conditions , Maybole are no mugs and not many teams will leave Ladywell with full points.
TEAM -- McCann , Collins , Smith , Quigley , Harvey , Anderson , McGuinness , Gray , Erskine , Kinney , Longworth.
SUBS -- Davidson , Rankine , Caldwell , Miller , Cochrane.

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If it had rained any heavier prior to or during this match , the game would surely have ben called off .......if the Burgh had defended any deeper , they would surely have drooned.
The game kicked off with Ladeside on the attack , the game ended with Ladeside on the attack and inbetween Ladeside attacked.It was like shootie in ..........only for a long while it wouldnt go bloody in.
Shots were deflected , shots were blocked , shots were deflected after being blocked , they went inches wide of the post ,they inches over the bar , Longworth screwed a couple of headers wide , Kinney had a goal chopped off on 20 mins and then rattled the post with the keeper beaten......and so it went on.Ladeside surged forward , Burgh filed back ......and still it pissed down.
The Burghs only outlet was their ex - Medda forward Brolly ( a very apt name in the circumstances ) but he was easily dealt with by the Ladeside rearguard and keeper McCann looked a forlorn figure as he stood on his lonesome with the rain running down his napper.
Half time came and went and the score remained the same.Ladeside fans were concerned that having enjoyed all the possession and created all those chances without scoring there was a chance that Paul Ferris' wee brother might pop up and haunt us.However , Marky got himself caught offside on the Burghs best chance of the match just after the break -- which of course he moaned about -- and went unoticed for the rest of the proceedings.
Ladeside were soon back at it , surging forward , creating chances , missing the target ........and still it pissed down.
Eight mins into the half and the goal finally came.Great work down left led to the inrushing Erskine drilling the ball low into the net from the edge of the area.......bringing sighs of relief all round the ground.
Smith then had to go off injured , fortunately though it wasnt his bad knee , unfortunately though , it was his good knee
Cochrane returned from his two match ban -- which actually lasted 5 matches ( for information on how this came about contact Stupidity Dept c/o Kilbirnie ladeside Football Club ) -- and slotted in with no problems.
A goal lead is always difficult to judge , especially when you have had so much possession , do you sit back and protect the lead or do you go for another goal.There was never a chance of Ladeside accepting what they had.
On came speed merchants Miller and Davidson and the tempo was upped even more .....which with 5 mins remaining brought about the secong goal everyone wanted.
A great move ( again ) down the left ( again ) ended with Longworth losing his marker and firing home from 6 yards , wrapping up another precious three points .........and still it pissed down.
George Walker..........who he ??????????
TEAM -- McCann , Todd , Smith , Quigley , Harvey , Anderson , McGuinness , Gray , Erskine ,Kinney , Longworth.
SUBS -- Davidson , Miller , Cochrane , Collins ,Rankine.

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There's not really a lot that can be said about this match.Football wise , it was a non event.Ladeside struggled to play their normal game on a pitch totally unsuitable for passing , while Largs gave them little time in possession and thumped the ball forward constantly in a fashion more akin to a public park on a Sunday morning.They seemed more determined to score from their strange set piece moves than they were on entertaining the public -- line dancing lessons going well then
The 1st half was appalling.Pases going astray , moves breaking down , free kicks going 40 yards over the bar.Largs were perhaps the better team , though they never seriously troubled McCann in the Ladeside goal.
It was Ladeside that plundered the lead though on 35 mins.Longworth found himself in possession by the corner flag and played the ball into the box , Kinney , to his amazement found himself unmarked and simply turned and skelped the ball past ex - Medda keeper Connick for the opener.
Its debatable whether Ladeside deserved to be leading at the break but Blastie fans couldn't have gave a toss about that.
Largs upped the tempo at the start of the 2nd half and with the increasing strong sea breeze at their backs , it was no surprise when they levelled the scores on 51 mins.The Ladeside defence misjudged a punt as it emerged from the stratosphere and a forward placed the ball under McCann into the net.
It was a critical period for The Blasties , in previous matches they have collapsed against teams that play stoneage fitba after having done so well.But credit to the defence , they kept their composure and refused to succumb under the bombardment.
Div Gray eased the pressure with a storming 60 yard run followed by a shot which the keeper only gathered at te second attempt.Erskine and Miller replaced Rankine ad Gray and by the final third of the match , Ladeside were surging forward as Largs were blowing out their own arse.
However , by now the wee fat linesman was joining his compadre in the middle by making up decisions strange to all but himself , leaving players , supporters and no doubt -- judging by the size of his belly -- even his own wife totally frustrated.
The Ladeside team frustrated their own fans as well , Anderson passed when he should have shot , Erskine shot when he should have passed and the ever reliable Longworth missed the target when well placed.
So a draw it was and a well earned point it was as well , been better had it been three but the result was probably fair.
TEAM -- McCann , Todd , Smith , Quigley , Harvey , Rankine , Anderson , McGuinness , Gray , Kinney , Longworth.
SUBS -- Davidson , Miller , Erskine , Rosenthal.

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This was not the scintilating free flowing attacking display of the Maryhill game , however , it was another excellent victory against a strong well organised Annbank team , another shut out , another 3 goals scored and another crucial 3 points gained.
Ladeside started brightly and Kinney ( who had another excellent game ) forced the home keeper into a save on 4 mins after good work from Todd then a minute later he drilled a left foot shot inches wide following a McGuinness through ball.Annbank though were dogged and determined and the game developed into an intense midfield battle , both teams were intent on driving forward at every opportunity but moves were breaking down at the edge of the area.
Ladeside were caught pushing forward on mins and McCann was forced to pull of a good save to deny the home forward.Two mins later a bankies player was left unmarked in the box but fortunately he headed high over the bar.
Davy Anderson was revelling in the conditions and with McGuinness and Gray , Ladeside had that bit more quality where it mattered most.The opening goal on 37 mins demonstrated that.Anderson drove forward ( again ) slipped the ball to McGuinness , who played it into the box , Kinney let the ball run across him and just as he was about to shoot was brought crashing down by the impressive Bankies No5.Longworth did his usual clinical job from the spot rolling the ball past the keeper and into the corner of the net.
Ladeside could perhaps have had the match wrapped up by half time.On 41 mins longworth spurned a great chance when the keeper saved with his legs then in the last minute a Kinney header was bound for the bottom corner , before , somehow , the Annbank keeper finger tipped the ball onto the post and behind for a corner.
Annbank began the better team in the second half and pressed Ladeside back for considerable periods of time.The Blasties were finding it difficult to retain possession and the long ball into the box caught the defence out on a number of occasions.Fortunately the Bankies failed to get any of their attempts on target and McCann dealt with most cross balls with no problems.
Had Annbank levelled the score during this period no Ladeside supporter could have had any complaints.
Once again though that extra bit of quality in the Ladeside ranks proved decisive.Ladeside regained control in midfield and began stretching the Annbank defence again.On 72 mins Kinney made another good run , the ball landed at McGuinness who played a great ball into the area for the inrushing Gray , the tricky wideman slipped and feinted his way to the six yard box where he blased high past the helpless keeper for the second goal.
Gray was soon replaced by Erskine and Miller came on for Rankine.The injection of pace and forward power tore the Bankies defence to shreds for the rest of the match.
A move involving umpteen players and umpteen passes ended with a Miller shot deflected inches over the bar then an Erskine pass across the face of goal was just too strong for Longworth to touch home with the keeper beaten.
Kinney , who had put in a tremendous shift , was replaced by Davidson on 85 and within minutes a great one two with Longworth saw him beat the offside trap and his return ball took out the keeper leaving Longworth with a simple tap in to wrap up a hard earned but deserved victory for the Blasties.
TEAM -- McCann , Todd , Smith , Quigley , Harvey , Rankine , Anderson , McGuinness , Gray , Longworth , Kinney.
SUBS -- Davidson , Erskine , Miller , Collins ,

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