East Kilbride boss pleased to see Nathan Flanagan net in cup win on injury return

East Kilbride boss Mick Kennedy was delighted to see Nathan Flanagan mark his return to the team with a fine opening goal in their Scottish Cup first round win over Gretna.

The Kilby winger has been out since last season with an ankle injury and returned in last week’s Lowland League defeat to Caledonian Braves, but he made an instant impact from the start on Saturday by netting after just two minutes.

He picked up a short corner and curled the ball home to send Kilby on the road to a place in the second round, before Jack Leitch secured a tie with League Two side Bonnyrigg Rose in the next round.

Kennedy was thrilled for his player but felt his side should have made it a more comfortable afternoon.

He said: “It was a short corner that we’d worked on and it was a great finish from Nathan. I’m delighted for him. He came back last week against Caley Braves after being out for a few months and he missed the full pre-season, so it is great that’s him getting back now.

“But I’m just disappointed that we didn’t score another couple of goals, given the sheer volume of possession we had. Saturday was the story of the season so far. We’ve dominated every game, but we just need to get into a better rhythm of creating more opportunities and being more clinical.

“We dominated the full game from start to finish and it was more comfortable than 2-0 would suggest. I said last week that Gretna are vastly improved from the team we played last season and that was the case. They were really physical and well-organised, but we deserved to win the game, I don’t think anyone can argue with that.”

EK now face Gretna again tonight in the league, sitting fifth in the table and looking to close the six-point gap from leaders Caledonian Braves.