Bellshill Athletic 2 Kilsyth Athletic 0: Laughlin and Wilson on target as Third Division leaders extend lead at summit

In-form Bellshill Athletic extended their lead at the top of the West of Scotland Third Division to five points after grinding out a 2-0 win at home to mid-table Kilsyth Athletic.

In a game of few clear-cut chances at Rockburn Park, two goals in the space of three minutes at the end of the first-half from Kyle Laughlin and Donnie Wilson secured a precious three points for the North Lanarkshire outfit and stretched their unbeaten league run to nine games.

With joint second-placed sides Irvine Victoria in friendly action and Vale of Leven involved in a Scottish Junior Cup tie, Bellshill were determined to keep their foot on the peddle at the summit.

They did just that in a game that lacked quality but saw both teams display plenty of endeavour in front of an impressive crowd. The hosts ended the match with ten men after substitute Ben Elliott was shown a straight red card for an off-the-ball altercation.

Bellshill co-manager Dean Muir was pleased to register yet another important victory and challenged his side to keep churning out results in order to pile the pressure on opposition teams.

He told GlasgowWorld: “As much as it wasn’t pretty on the eye, we told the boys that sometimes it’s just about getting the results. That’s the most important thing, we can always work on our performance and certain elements of the game.

“But I would rather take an ugly win than a narrow defeat. That’s the challenge for us now every week, we’re still undefeated in the league. Teams are going to come here and they’ll want to be that side who knocks us off our unbeaten run.

“You’ve got to overcome a lot of different challenges, it’s not always about going out there and expressing yourself because some teams won’t let you do that. Ultimately, goals win you games and allow you that platform to build from.

“We’re getting a few boys back from injury as well, so it’ll be nice to have a settled team going forward. It’s another clean sheet and we obviously knew ahead of the game there was only a couple of league fixtures on today and that was another massive incentive for us. We need to keep putting points on the board and we’ve got what we set out to get from the game so I’m delighted.”

Bellshill came into the match in flying form after winning their previous two matches, including a shock 2-0 win over Midlands League outfit Broughty Athletic in the Junior Cup last weekend - a competition they reached the quarter-final stage of last year.

In a closely contested first-half, both goalkeepers were rarely tested with most of the action occuring in the middle of the park. That was until the 42nd minute when the home side finally broke the deadlock.

A quickly taken throw-in from Kyle Caig on the left-hand side saw Jamie Newton race into the penalty area and flash a low ball across the face of goal for Kyle Laughlin, who crashed a first-time shot in off the underside of the crossbar at the back post. The visitors were left furious with the referee’s decision to award the goal, claiming the ball never crossed the line.

A disorganised Kilsyth failed to recover from that setback and quickly found themselves trailing by a two-goal cushion on the stroke of half-time. A deep corner from the right was headed back into a cluster of bodies by Kieron Markey. Following a goal line scramble, Bellshill centre-back Donnie Wilson was on hand to prod home from close range.

Kilsyth looked to steady the ship after the interval and they started to pose a greater attacking threat, with JC Hutchison forced into an excellent fingertip save after a deflected strike spun up into the air and forced the keeper to back-pedal.

Despite causing problems in the final third, last season’s promoted Fourth Division runners-up couldn’t turn a sustained period of dominance into goals. In truth, it was Bellshill who looked the more likely to add a third, with Caig forcing a good save from replacement keeper Greg McGuinness.

Markey then had the ball in the net on 76 minutes after being played clean through on goal, but the striker was flagged offside.

Markey then blazed over the bar in the closing stages after being forced off-balance under pressure from two Kilsyth defenders. Play was halted moments later when Bellshill attacker Elliott clashed with an opposition player, sparking a melee before being sent for an early bath.

Kilsyth boss Bailey Hanlon reckons there were enough positives to take from his side’s performance. He admitted: “It was a really even game in the first-half. We go in 2-0 down at half-time, but we were still in the match. We were the better team after the break and I felt we maybe deserved a point. But it’s on us to score goals and create a bit more.

“We had to make two enforced changes before half-time which wasn’t ideal, but the boys performed pretty well in the second half and were in the ascendency. We just didn’t have that rub of the green today.

“We came into this game on a better run and felt as though we’d turned a corner. I think we can still take positives against a team sitting top of the league and you can see why. Bellshill are a tough opponent, but we just need to keep pushing forward.”

Bellshill Athletic (4-4-2): Hutchison, Thomson, Craig, Wilson, Fraser (Dunlop; 89), Cowie (Clark; 83), Cherrie, Laughlin (Kyle; 71), Newton (Oliphant; 89), Markey, Caig (Elliott; 71)

Unused: Binnie (GK), Girdwood

Kilsyth Athletic (4-4-2): Duffy (McGuinness; 45), Robertson (Gibson; 43), Houston (Guthrie; 58), Murphy, Carr, Taylor, Doherty, Scullion, McFarlane (Bolan; 58), McCormick, Downs (Barclay; 58)

Unused: Punter, Johnston

Referee: Alex Bebbington

Attendance: 261

GlasgowWorld Man of the Match: Robert Thomson (Bellshill Athletic)