Cambuslang Rangers co-boss Billy Campbell insists there is no more margin for error after a week of mixed results for the West of Scotland Conference B leaders.
The club had been on a 12 game winning streak until the wheels came off against Rossvale in the Junior Cup last week and that turned into back-to-back defeats in midweek when rivals Gartcairn earned a 2-0 win in a league clash in Airdrie.
However, Camby bounced back with a hard-fought 1-0 win away to Port Glasgow, with Tony Stevenson’s first-half strike proving the difference at Parklea.
Looking back at both games, Campbell said: “Nobody’s got a divine right to win a game in this division and if you turn up and you are not on your game, you don’t take your chances, there’s a very good chance you will get beat - and that happened.
“Gartcairn took their chances and we didn’t.
“There’s always going to be results that won’t go your way in a season and we’ve told the boys they just need to dig in and work harder.
“We haven’t played badly, so it’s not like Paul [McColl, the club’s co-boss] and I are having a panic about anything.
“It was a massive game for us on Saturday and, with whatever team I’ve been with down the years, the Port is always a really hard place to go.
“We hit the post a couple of times, hit the crossbar and we had two goals chopped off for offside, but overall we deserved to come away with a win.
“If you asked me on the Saturday morning if I’d take a 1-0 win, I’d have bit your hand off, so I’m pleased we’ve got back on track.
“It’s very tight at the top and there is no margin for error in any of the games right now.”
That narrow win sent Camby back to the league summit on goal difference from Ardeer Thistle, who have played two games more.
But their recent slip has allowed Gartcairn back into the title race as the halfway point in the season approaches, while St Cadoc’s are in third spot just a point behind with the same number of games played (13).
Campbell added: “I think we are deservedly top of the table right now, but we’ll need to work damn hard to stay there because the top four are only split by a few points.
“It’s scary that we are nearly halfway. Every game will be extremely important and Carluke this Saturday is another massive one.
“They are scoring a lot of goals at the moment and we’ll need to make sure we turn up.”
Cambuslang host Carluke on Saturday, kick-off 2pm at Somervell Park.
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