Lanarkshire teams climb table after wins

Sep 22 2011 by Andrew McGilvray, Hamilton Advertiser

BLANTYRE Vics and Forth Wanderers both cashed in on a depleted Central League Second Division card to claim two slots on the fringes of the promotion-chasing pack.

Vics beat Royal Albert 5-2 at Gasworks Park, while Forth maintained their high-scoring run by dumping Johnstone Burgh 4-1 at Kingshill Park.

The top-of-the-table clash between Lesmahagow and Carluke Rovers was postponed after overnight rain left a watery surface at Craighead Stadium.

And it was a similar tale at Newmains and Wishaw, where the respective visitors were scheduled to be Stonehouse Violet and Rossvale.

Vics assistant manager Brian Crawford took charge while boss Alan Shields was on holiday, and was delighted with a thumping win which lifted Blantyre up into fourth place.

Chris McGarry opened the scoring with Gareth Stokoe equalising.

Jamie McCarroll put Vics ahead but Stokoe replied instantly to level again, flashing in a James Neilson pass.

But Vics then surged ahead with McCarroll, with Graeme Shanks and skipper Colin Boylan completing the scoring.

Crawford said: “We played some really nice football and scored some good goals.

“McCarroll’s goals were cleverly executed and both could easily qualify for any ‘goal of the season’ competition.

“His first was a great run and a clever chip, while his second saw him pull off a reverse pass to latch onto it and fire the ball into the far corner.

“But again we lost a couple of sloppy goals and we’ll keep working on this at training to rectify the problem.”

Royal Albert manager Iain McCluskie said: “It was a good game to watch, with lots of good football from both sides, who tried to get the ball down and pass it even though it was a heavy pitch.

“Blantyre deserved to win but not by such a flattering margin – we had a shot that came off the bar and bounced into the keeper’s arms, while Vics had a shot bounce off the bar and land at their striker’s feet.”

Forth beat Johnstone Burgh 4-1 to move fourth in the table.

Kenny Wright gave them an early lead when he chipped the Johnstone keeper from 30 yards, but midfielder Gordon Murphy deflected a shot in for an own-goal to bring the sides level at half-time.

Davie Grant sent Wright through on goal and he beat the keeper in a one-on-one to restore Forth’s lead.

Craig Crawford set up the third for Tony Traynor, and provided a corner for Wright to notch the fourth and his hat-trick.

Manager Jamie McKenzie said: “I was delighted with the result in what was a very tough game.

“At half-time I reminded the players how last time out we threw away a lead, but this time they responded well in the second half to get a comfortable win.”

Chris Newall is expected to be out for two or three weeks with an achilles tendon injury, while Chris McGroarty has picked up a knock that could sideline him for a fortnight.

Lesmahagow manager Robert Irving said: “It was disappointing to have the Carluke game called off, but after the rain we had on Friday night it wasn’t a major surprise.

“We asked about getting a game on the holiday weekend but the one option that came up never materialised.

“We can take a positive from that, in that it will give our goalkeeper Stewart Thomson extra time to rest and recover from his torn calf muscle.”