It’s always tough to beat the team at the top of the table.
But there is no better way of warming up for a local derby clash than pulling off the feat twice in a row.
That’s exactly what Paisley side Glenvale managed, following up their superb 2-1 win over title hopefuls Finnart with an impressive 1-0 victory over Kilsyth Athletic.
Despite their fine form, Glenvale boss John Kelly insists he and his players won’t be falling into the trap of getting too wrapped up in the occasion ahead of the third Division 4 Paisley derby against St Peter’s this weekend.
Their Glenburn-based rivals have won both meetings so far with both clubs having joined the West of Scotland set up this year.
Kelly told Express Sport: “We were obviously delighted to beat the team at the top of the table twice in the space of two weeks.
“But we’re not buying into the hype that’s followed it.
“We know we’re a work in progress and we know there’s still going to be tough games and defeats over the rest of the season. We can take a lot of confidence from inflicting Kilsyth’s first home defeat all season, of course.
"But we’re approaching the St Peter’s game as if it was any other game. I think it’s important that we take the emotion out of it.
“I think the players and myself maybe got caught up in it over the last couple of games between us. We got too into the occasion.
“There’s obviously a lot said and a lot of chat on social media and it can be hard to ignore the noise.
“But that’s what we have to do. We want to let other people do the talking and just focus on ourselves.
“If we do that and play as well as we have against Kilsyth and Finnart in our last two games we should be absolutely fine come Saturday.”
Glenvale’s recent wins over the two title rivals have raised eyebrows in Division 4, while also bringing the club to just four points behind Paisley rivals St Peter’s ahead of Saturday’s clash at New Western Park.
Kelly was most pleased with his side’s resolve after withstanding a late barrage to escape Kilsyth with all three points.
He said: “The second half we were superb against Kilsyth and it was a phenomenal goal from Ronnie Nicholson.
“It’s not every day your centre back curls one right into the top corner!
“We controlled the game to be honest and should have had a couple of penalties as well which would have made things a lot more clear cut. They threw the kitchen sink at us in the last five minutes, as you’d expect, but I was delighted with how well we stood up to that challenge.
“We did brilliantly to hold onto all three points which gives us even more belief heading into Saturday.
“There’s always a wee bit of added spice to a local derby and hopefully there’ll be a great crowd there. That could give our boys the extra ten per cent to get over the line.”
