Your Reporter
Jim Kirkwood
KILWINNING RANGERS 3 IRVINE VICTORIA 0
Team Stewart ; McGregor , Wozencroft , I Fulton and Houston : Lewis , Brown , Mitchell and Grant : M Fulton and Sloan
Subs ; McDougall , Holden , Kirkwood , Blair and Ferris
With Ferris and Monan unable to start due to injuries , Manager Thompson played Grant wide on the left and switched Sloan up front to partner Fulton. Keen to make amends for their defeat at Ardrossan, Kilwinning were determined to start well, but it was the Vics who stormed forward looking for the opener.
As the game settled down it developed into a stalemate and to be frank there was little to enthuse about from either side.
More was expected from the home side in the second half , and so it proved after only 3 minutes when Sloan thumped a low cross across goal from the right and Grant pounced to slide the ball home.
In 52 minutes the visitors were reduced to 10 men when their striker slid into Wozencroft on the half way line and was given a straight red card.
The decision looked a bit harsh to me. Five minutes later and the Buffs went two up when following a Lewis shot, the ball spun up in the air and Grant looped a header over the Vics keeper into the empty net.
In 64 minutes a Vics player SHOULD have been sent off when he dived into a tackle with keeper Stewart with his studs showing, resulting in the Kilwinning shot stopper being helped from the field.
He was replaced by substitute keeper McDougall, at the same time as new boy from Girvan, Michael Holden replaced Houston. In 73 minutes the match ended as a contest when from 16 yards out Michael Fulton placed a right footer into the corner of the Vics net for number three.
Three minutes later Kirkwood substituted for Mitchell. With 6 minutes to go, as the game petered out, the Vics had another player cautioned .
Another win for the Buffs taking them back to the top of the league.
There were no real failures in the home side but for his all round contribution and his two goals, my man of the match went to Lee Grant.
Jim Kirkwood
