East Kilbride boss Stevie Aitken hailed his side's never-say-die attitude as they came from behind to grab a late winner at Stirling Uni with 10-men.
Jamie Penker fired the Students in front after 52 minutes, but Craig Malcolm levelled on the hour mark for the visitors.
Lewis Kidd was shown a straight red for violent conduct 10 minutes from time after kicking out at an opponent, but instead of settling for the point, Kilby went for broke.
Aitken threw on Darren Smith, Kyle Wilkie, Anton Brady and Healy late on and it paid off six minutes from time with an acrobatic winner from former Berwick man Healy.
It ensured a winning start for Aitken, who fielded nine debutants, and he hailed his side for their perseverance at Forthbank.
He said: "We'll maybe look back at this at the end of the season as an important three points.
"It's our first competitive game in six months or so, we had nine new starts today and it's not going to be instant.
"We'll need to work at it. I think for the majority of the game we were miles in front, but we just don't get the breaks.
"It's typical that when we make a mistake, they get their goal.
"But there was great endeavour from the players, a never-say-die attitude, and that's what we bring here.
"We just put a lot of attacking players on when a lot of teams would probably settle for a draw at that point.
"We were always on the front foot and we had about five or six attackers on at the end of the game, so we are delighted to get the three points."
There were a few nervy moments for Kilby and Stirling spurned a handful of clear-cut chances that could have made it a day to forget for the former Dumbarton boss.
With 12 new signings in the door ahead of kick-off, Aitken knows it will take time for the team to gel.
He added: "It's our first game, there's a long way to go, but if players keep showing that endeavour, things will get better in front of goal, the final pass will improve and the defence will improve.
"Steven Bell just came in during the week, Steven Old has only had one week training, Jordan Armstrong and Kyle Bradley have just come in, so the full back four have had one training session together.
"You could see that at times, they were a wee bit disjointed, but we'll work on it and we'll get it right."
“No bad, eh?”
— Lanarkshire Live Sport (@LanLiveSport) October 10, 2020
Some quick reaction from goal hero Daryl Healy after his overhead kick won the game for 10-man @officialEKFC pic.twitter.com/1zGo61yVAF
Next up, Kilby play their first home game of the season on Tuesday night when they host Gretna 2008, who lost 2-1 to Spartans this afternoon.
And Aitken expects changes with a few injury worries popping up.
"The first week was always going to be demanding," he said.
"Paul Woods came off injured and Steven Old will be tight.
"Paul Paton probably should have missed today, he's got a thigh problem, but he wanted to get through it, so he might miss Tuesday.
"But we'll come through it and try and build on today's performance for Tuesday."
Follow Lanarkshire Live Sport on Twitter via @LanLiveSport, like us on Facebook or find us on Instagram for the latest sports news, pictures and video.
