NEILSTON co-boss Chris Cameron was delighted to see his team grind out three points as they kept up their perfect start to the season in Saturday’s top-of-the-table clash with Greenock.

Adam Forde’s second half free-kick proved to be decisive as The Farmer’s Boys made it seven wins from seven games and moved five points clear at the top of Conference B in the West of Scotland Football League.

Cameron’s troops have been prolific this season and had already scored 26 goals in just six games heading into their latest fixture but he knew chances would be at a premium at the Ravenscraig Stadium.

He told Barrhead Sport: “Greenock is never an easy place to go and play. They get right in your face but we were delighted to win.

“You’re never going to get many chances against Greenock, as they play a 3-5-2 but the wing-backs don’t go forward, so it’s almost like five at the back, plus a holding midfielder.

“Sometimes you can become a wee bit complacent when you’re looking to play so freely and score a lot of goals but the lads were excellent defensively on Saturday.

“We limited Greenock to one shot on goal and that was from 30 yards and Grant [Hay] dealt with it easily.

“There were a couple of dangerous crosses from corners but, as a unit, we were excellent.”

Neilston went for pace on the wings and up top as they aimed to get in behind the ‘Nock defence.

However, when they did breach the hosts’ backline, the final ball wasn’t quite there for the Brig O’Lea team, as low crosses flashed across the face of goal.

Dylan Fletcher had the best chance of the first half but was denied by a great save from the Greenock goalkeeper.

The only goal of the afternoon came midway through the second period, when Forde’s free-kick from a wide position 35 yards from goal bounced through a busy penalty area and into the top corner.

Neilston held on to stretch their advantage over Greenock, who remain second, with Johnstone Burgh hot on their heels in third.

Cameron is now targeting a win against Carluke this Saturday before the league shuts down for a Christmas break.

He added: “We’ve not hidden the fact that we were looking to get to Christmas undefeated, so we’ve got one final hurdle to get over.

“There’s no complacency and we’ll be right at it against Carluke to try to take the three points.”