Johnstone Burgh boss Jamie McKim admits local rivals Arthurlie are the best side they’ve come up against so far this season.
But he still believes his team could have given their Barrhead neighbours a much better game if they hadn’t been decimated by injuries before and during Saturday’s 5-2 drubbing at Dunterlie Park, or gifted them a penalty just 22 seconds into the match.
Burgh were unable to put an end to ‘Lie’s current 10-game unbeaten run, which now sees them sitting second in the WoSFL Conference A table just two points behind Shotts Bon Accord with two games in hand.
And while McKim was hoping to inflict a first defeat on their on-form rivals, he admits the Dunterlie side are an impressive outfit who will be tough for any team to beat this season.
He told Express Sport: “It was a really tough game. The scoreline was harsh on us but they were the better side on the day.
“We gave them a penalty 22 seconds into the game, which wasn’t the start we were after and we were chasing the game after that.
“Where we are as a club, we need our strongest squad available to compete with the top clubs and we were missing far too many before the game.
“Regulars like Stuart Fyfe and Gordon Meredith were out, and we lost our left back Jason Andrew and midfielder Nathan Findlay over the course of the first half too.
“Sam Esplin, who was stand-in skipper for Fyfe, took a knock but he had to continue simply because we didn’t have any other options on the bench. We needed him to play on.
“We’re used to being one of the top teams in our league, but we’re not in a position now to be missing six or seven of our key players and go somewhere like Dunterlie Park and easily pick up a result.
“They were well deserving of the points on the day. They’re flying at the moment and you could see the confidence they have.
“They’re the best side we’ve come up against this season and are rightly favourites for the title alongside Shotts, but we can take confidence from the fact we matched them for large spells of the game.
“There are weaknesses there to exploit. Unfortunately we couldn’t do that on Saturday because of the strength of squad we were left with.”
Burgh now find themselves in tenth position in Conference A, with a visit to Keanie Park from 12th place Girvan up next as they look to get back to winning ways.
McKim is hopeful he’ll have some of his key men back for that clash and revealed he’s on the hunt for recruits to help bolster his struggling squad.
McKim added: “The next couple of games are massive for us because we have been on a pretty poor run.
“We hope to have at least two, hopefully three, of our injured players back for next Saturday which will make a huge difference.
“I’m hoping to add one or two to strengthen our squad depth as well, because we’re so light on bodies at the moment.
“I won’t just be bringing anyone in though. They have to be of a standard that will improve the squad.
“Girvan are mid-table the same as us so they’ll be targeting a positive result from the game.
"Hopefully being back at Keanie Park will make a difference too, because we struggled to adapt to Dunterlie which is a much tighter park than we’re used to.”
