Neilston co-manager Chris Cameron insists there is plenty more to come from his side after they secured their second win of the season with a narrow 1-0 win away to Irvine Victoria on Saturday.
Looking to bounce back from a 3-0 loss to Cambuslang and a 2-2 draw against Kilsyth Rangers, the Farmer’s Boys had a second-half strike from Dylan Fletcher to thank as they secured the points.
With Vics on the back of two wins, including a 2-1 victory over Arthurlie, Neilston had their work cut out at Victoria Park as both sides searched for the opening in the swirling wind.
Paul Stewart forced the home keeper into the first save of the games minutes in before the hosts came closest to opening the scoring after 20 minutes with a powerful free-kick rattling the bar before being cleared away to safety.
At the other end, Fletcher and Stephen Docherty linked up well before Ross Hocknull and Stephen Stirling combined to send Docherty through on goal only for the midfielder to spurn the chance.
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Cameron’s side got off to a blistering start after the break with Hocknull forcing the Vics keeper into a top save moments before they found a well-deserved opener.
Fletcher did well to get on the end a through ball from Stirling and casually slotted it beyond Blair Cousar in the Irvine goal.
Fletcher then turned provider as he laid it off for Docherty inside the area but he couldn’t quite capitalise as he blasted his effort well over from close-range.
With Neilston failing to take their chances, the home side inevitably upped the tempo in search of the equaliser with 10 minutes to go as Kyle Pirie was called into action late on with a fine stop to secure the points and Neilston’s second win of the season.
Now sitting with seven points from a possible 12, Cameron admits that Saturday’s win was vital for morale within the team and is adamant that his side will only improve as the weeks go on.
He said: “We are absolutely delighted with that result. It makes our start of the season and our points tally look a bit better. We were on the edge a bit with four points from three games but seven points from 12 looks decent now.
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“We were definitely the better team on Saturday in terms of play. It really was well-deserved. We had enough chances to win three or four games if it wasn’t for a bit of slackness in the final third.
“In terms of the desire and commitment from the boys, that has been there for the last few Saturdays. What I will say is we’ve not even properly started our season yet in regards to how we know we can play.
“I think we’re only sitting at maybe 60 or 70 per cent right now to be honest. There is definitely plenty more to come from us. The boys all the know that and have been slightly frustrated a bit but we’ve still managed to pick up seven points which isn’t bad.
“That can only be a positive. We’re not playing well but we’re still picking up points and sitting in a healthy position.”
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