The first of back-to-back home games sees The Buffs welcome Kirkintilloch Rob Roy tonight in an important game under the lights. Following the disappointment of relegation, The Roy have began this campaign fairly well sitting in 7 th position after 4 games with 7 points from a possible 12.
Despite, Rob Roy’s positive start on the pitch it has been the work the club have done off it that has stolen the headlines. This season, for the first time in 10 years, The Roy are back home in Kirkintilloch after having to groundshare at Guys Meadow with Cumbernauld United from 2014. The Roy are now playing their home games at The Kirkintilloch Community Sports Complex after a 10 year gap since playing at Adamslie Park.
The Kirkintilloch side got off to a dream start in the opening game at new home when a reported 833, stadium sell out, watched on as The Roy squeezed past Renfrew 1-0 in a cagey affair to open the season. They then followed that with another tight home win as they beat Blantyre Vics before losing their first game of the season to Cumbernauld United. Kirkintilloch’s last match ended with neither themselves nor Kilbirnie Ladeside being able to break the deadlock which left them with 2 wins out of their first 4. Rob Roy have completed a fairly similar amount of business to The Buffs bringing in just over 10 players during the summer break and, like The Buffs, it looks like it may take time for the new look squad to fully bed in and really kick on. The Roy also have a new look management team from last season as new manager John Gibson joins from Blantyre Victoria after Kirkintilloch faced relegation from the WOSFL Premier Division last season. Buffs fans do have a familiar face to look out for in The Rob Roy side as ex Buffs defender Finlay Anderson, who spent a season at Buffs Park, could feature in the match. For The Buffs, Mark Lamont will be looking to continue his goalscoring form whilst Lawrence Hendry will be hoping that he can carry on his very impressive defensive performances during the opening parts of the season. The Buffs will be looking to finally get 3 points at home for the first time in what feels like forever however, it will no doubt be
a tough test for Kevin Kelly’s side with The Roy tipped as favourites by many to get promoted this season.
You can probably expect quite a tight affair between the two sides as both have struggled to score so far this season with Rob Roy only scoring 3 in 4 and The Buffs with only 4 in 4. If The Buffs have any aspirations to be up fighting for promotions places this season, they will be looking to get at least a point from the game but of course will be aiming for all 3 to finally put an end to this pretty embarrassing run of results at home in recent seasons. The players have made it very clear that the support they receive from the fans really pushes them on during games and will be hoping that it will be enough to get them over the line tonight so make sure you get out to support the boys in what could turn out to be a very influential night in The Buffs’ season.
