For the first time in 171 days Buffs fans could go home happy after finally seeing a home Buffs win
thanks to a Campbell McLean goal in a 1-0 win over Kirkintilloch Rob Roy. It was a fairly scrappy
meeting and Rob Roy will probably feel a little hard done by to come away from the game with
nothing, especially after keeping the Buffs out for a large part of the game with only 10 men.
The Buffs were the team that started the game on the front foot, dissimilar to the last few
performances, but failed to really carve out a chance and despite The Buffs winning most of the
early battles it was The Roy that had the first glimpse of a chance when the visitors won the ball in
the midfield and played a cute chip over the top of the Buffs defence which set the opposing striker
in on goal but thankfully for The Buffs his first touch let him down which allowed the Buffs defence
to recover and deal with the situation. The home side had to wait until around the 20th minute for
their first attempt at goal and it turned out to be a great chance to open the scoring. Mark Lamont
whipped the ball in from a corner and Lawrence Hendry managed to connect with the ball towards
the back post but his header back across goal deflected off a Rob Roy defender, leading to it drifting
just past the post. The Buffs didn’t have to wait long for another chance to come along as from the
following corner it was Bryan Boylan this time that got his head on a Mark Lamont cross. The Roy
goalkeeper came out to try and clear the ball but missed which led to the ball making its way to the
back post where Boylan couldn’t quite get enough on it to direct it into the net. Defender Lawrence
Hendry continued to dominate when attacking corners, winning 3 or 4 in a row, but nothing seemed
to be falling for The Buffs in the box. The opposition replied with a chance of their own from a corner
as the ball was drove out to the edge of the box, but the ball was blocked as it entered the sea of
bodies in the Buffs box from the shot that followed. The main talking point of the half came just shy
of the break when Jordan Pirie was shown red after what looked to be a studs-up challenge on
Conor McLaughlin. The player left the field with few complaints which suggests the referee’s
decision was probably justified. Manager Kevin Kelly would’ve headed into the changing rooms then
happier of the two managers after a first half Buffs performance that was full of fight and desire and
would’ve been confident that if his side kept doing the right things a goal wouldn’t be far away,
especially against the now 10 men of Rob Roy.
Frustratingly, The Buffs seemed to find it harder in the second half and it was in fact the visitors that
dominated much of the half with nearly all the football from both sides being played in the Buffs’
half. The Buffs couldn’t get anything going to break down the hard working 10 men of Rob Roy and
the visitors now looked like the team that were providing much more of a threat although, not
challenging Mateusz Miller in the Buffs net much. It was looking like the wait for a home win was
going to go on until some very tidy feet from Lamont on the left side of the box allowed him to beat
his man and deliver a ball to the late run of Campbell who drove the ball into the back of the net
with a first-time finish from just inside the box for his first senior goal in the blue and white hoops of
Kilwinning Rangers. Once The Buffs had the lead they looked desperate to keep it as they were
chasing every ball and winning nearly all duels, much like the first half. There was one final scare in
store for Buffs fans when Mateusz Miller had to pull off a decent diving save to deny The Rabs from a
direct free kick in the dying minutes of the encounter.
There were some great Buffs performances during the game especially from the likes of Chris Bell
who I don’t remember missing a tackle throughout and Campbell Mclean who was his usual self,
chasing everything down in the middle of the park and eventually got his reward. Mark Lamont also
shown plenty of quality across the 90 minutes and looked to be back to his creative best on the
night. The Buffs will now be looking to really kick on from this result as they now have that pretty
damning home record of their backs as they welcome Cumbernauld United to Buffs Park this
weekend.
