East Kilbride....1 Caledonian Braves...3
East Kilbride boss Stuart Malcolm has shouldered the blame for their shock defeat to Caledonian Braves.
The defending champions were left stunned by their Lanarkshire rivals, as former Kilby striker Ross McNeil returned to haunt his old club.
McNeil gave Braves the lead from the penalty spot early in the second half before David Sinclair made it 2-0.
Kilby skipper Craig Malcolm pulled one back, but Jean Guy Lucas sealed the win six minutes from time.
It’s the first time Kilby have lost their opening home match of the league campaign and Malcolm said: “I take full responsibility. It’s the worst performance we’ve had since I’ve been here.
“We weren’t at the races all over the park. It was a very poor showing from us. You could say maybe we should have gone in 1-0 up at half-time and we had a couple of chances we should have taken to get back into it when we got to 1-2.
“But if I’m being brutally honest, we didn’t deserve a point out of the game, never mind three.
“Our defensive record has been exceptional in the league up until now. Last season we only conceded four goals at home before winning the league.
“And the goals we conceded on Saturday were very disappointing.
“At the same time, I believe in all the players here because I know what they are capable of.
“It’s up to me to get their levels up.
“I take full responsibility and we will be addressing what happened.”
EK made an early tactical switch after 26 minutes, with Scott Stevenson coming on to replace Sean Winter, who stormed off the pitch in frustration.
The sides were level at the interval, but Braves found the breakthrough in 47 minutes when McNeil converted from the penalty spot after he had been fouled by Connor Bell.
Sinclair doubled their lead when his free-kick delivery into the box evaded everyone and found the far corner.
Malcolm gave Kilby a lifeline with a header in 69 minutes after Dean Cairns had nodded the ball back into the danger area.
But in 84 minutes Lucas cut inside and his deflected strike flew past Alan Martin in the Kilby goal to complete a terrible day for EK.
Malcolm added: “For the high standards we set last season and the way we played as a group, we aren’t at the same level right now and we need to act quickly to turn that around.
“We won the league and since we’ve come into this season, there’s been a shift in the mentality.”
