A look at the talking points after East Kilbride drop more points in the defence of their Lowland League title.
This weekend they are in cup action and have a chance to assess what has gone wrong in the opening throes of the campaign.
Struggling for consistency
With more dropped points, comes more concerns that this season will escape East Kilbride. It may be early days yet, but the worry is that Kilby just can’t get a run of results going and they have yet to face any of the top three sides in the table.
The biggest tests are yet to come and given how poorly Kilby have coped against mid-table opposition, a drastic improvement is essential to keep the season alive.
Kilby’s strong point has always been starting a season well and in the seasons they have won the league, they have racked up a sizeable lead before the halfway point.
In their first year as champions in 2016/17, they enjoyed a 100 per cent record in their opening seven games – going on to win 13 straight games before dropping any points.
Last season EK won their opening five games before drawing back-to-back against Edinburgh and Spartans.
After opening with two straight wins this season, Kilby’s record has since read LWLWD and they can’t get going.
Stuart Malcolm managed to take Kilby on a 14-game winning run (17 unbeaten) last season, so the Kilby boss will still believe things will turn in their favour. And you feel they’ll need to come up with something similar to hold on to their title.
Stanger should shore up defence
It took EK 14 league games to concede six goals last season and in the space of seven games this campaign they have already hit that tally.
However, Kilby will be hoping the arrival of George Stanger from Hamilton Accies, with his international experience for New Zealand, is the solution to their defensive issues.
The drawback is Stanger is only at K-Park until January and building a defence around a player who will leave before the business end of the campaign isn’t ideal.
But right now, it’s about EK keeping their title hopes alive. Stanger will add more competition to the backline and, Malcolm will hope, bring out the best in those around him.
Table makes grim reading
Kilby are currently eighth in the table and it’s a record-equalling low point for them at this stage of the season.
After 7 games EK also sat 8th in the 2013/4 season. In 2014/15 they were 6th, 1st in season 2015/16 and 2016/17 and sat 2nd in both 2017/18 and last season.
Unfortunately, the sore stats keep coming for EK. This is also the worst start to a title defence the Lowland League has seen with Spartans, Edinburgh City and EK – in their first season as champions – all riding high at this stage following their winning campaigns.
It’s grim reading right now for EK, but it’s all about how that table looks come the end of April that matters.
