Shotts Bon Accord are top of the Central League First Division

Feb 18 2010 by Andrew McGilvray, Hamilton Advertiser

SHOTTS surged to the top of the Central League First Division on Saturday and are ready to fight for promotion into the Super League.

With the top-of-the-table clash between Cumbernauld and St Anthony’s frozen off, Shotts quickly seized a golden opportunity to put pressure on their rivals.

They went into an all-county clash against Lesmahagow in confident mood and emerged with three points in one of only two games in Lanarkshire to beat the Friday frost.

Manager Tony McInally said: “It’s a good time to go top and we’re confident about the run-in – seven of our 13 games still to play are at home.

“We will have home advantage over both Cumbernauld and St Anthony’s, and about half a dozen of our games are against the bottom six clubs.”

Shotts were the more fluent team early on, with ’Gow keeper Stewart Thomson blocking several half-chances before Billy Russell’s cross was headed down by Paul McLaughlin for skipper John Boyack to blast into the net after 30 minutes.

Lesmahagow were reduced to 10 men a few minutes later when central defender Stewart McLaren was shown two yellow cards inside a three-minute spell, putting the relegation-threatened visitors under additional pressure.

Steve Barker fired in a low left-foot drive 10 minutes into the second half to double Shotts’ lead and, 15 minutes later, Russell headed in a clinching third.

Lesmahagow, having used all three substitutes, were reduced to nine men shortly after going 3-0 down when defender Jamie McDougall limped off with a foot injury.

And to make matters worse, substitute trialist James White was forced off with a knee ligament injury shortly before the final whistle from time, leaving ’Gow to finish the game with eight men.

To their credit, ’Gow gamely tried to keep going and Stevie Cunningham took a pass from midfielder Andy Brown to grab a consolation goal.

Shotts boss McInally said: “Although we didn’t play to our best, it was a very comfortable 3-1 win. The soft and heavy underfoot conditions were hardly conducive for flowing football.

“Goalkeeper Stewart Thomson was ’Gow’s best player, which says a lot about our play.”

Lesmahagow assistant manager Robert Irving was philosophical in defeat, saying: “Our performance was not too bad against what I reckon is the best team we’ve played this season.

“Now we’ve got to look ahead to Saturday’s home game against Port Glasgow – we need three points, especially on a day when most of the clubs in the lower league are all playing each other.”

He added: “We were lucky to have striker Craig Easton available on Saturday. He managed to play 50 minutes because he happened to be in the area, but because of work commitments in the east of Scotland, he won’t be available for this weekend.

“Kevin McDade was unavailable through work commitments but should be OK for this Saturday – but there are still fitness doubts over Barry Murdoch and Matthew Aymard.”

Fraser Gilliland is coming back to the club after taking a break, but is unlikely to step into a starting role until he has had a few training sessions to prove his fitness.

Larkhall Thistle’s gamble on switching Saturday’s game from Gasworks Park – where the showers weren’t working – to Dunipace backfired when the Denny ground was deemed unplayable.

Meanwhile, Blantyre Vics’s transfer-listed young sweeper Anton Rogers has signed for Superleague First Division Ashfield, who beat Neilston 2-1 on Saturday to go third.