East Kilbride Thistle see red again but boss hails character to dig out win

A sending off struck East Kilbride Thistle for a second week running, but boss Aaron Connolly was pleased to see his side grind out victory away to Eglinton.

The Jags were left reeling last week when they had FOUR players sent off in a 3-1 defeat at Lugar.

And on Saturday they had to contend with losing Mitchell Rooney for two bookings, after he had netted twice in the game.

The Jags ran out 3-2 winners with trialist Lewis Archer bagging the winner and Connolly – who was serving a touchline ban for his protests in last week’s chaotic clash – was full of praise for his side’s character, as they climbed to sixth in the West of Scotland Fourth Division.

He said: “The boys dug in really well and it is testament to the players’ attitude once again.

“We went down there missing four players from red cards last week and had two on the bench who weren’t fit enough to play.

“We brought in a trialist in who ends up scoring the winning goal and the boys have ground out what could be a fairly significant result.

“Everyone else around us dropped points on Saturday, so the boys can be really pleased with their efforts.

“I thought we started the game really well. We got ourselves into a 2-0 lead after 20-odd minutes and it looked at that point like there was only going to be one winner.

“But a couple of individual errors, some slackness from us, sees Eglinton catch us on the break a couple of times and we find ourselves going in 2-2 at the break.

“That was disappointing because I felt we should have been comfortable.

“The second half wasn’t great. Neither team played very well but we managed to get in front from a set-piece.

“Then we lose Mitchell to a red card. He was sent off for two bookings and I’ve got no complaints with either of