It was a pretty perfect day at the office for The Buffs as they strolled to a 4-1 victory against local rivals Kilbirnie Ladeside to further their lead atop the WOSFL First Division league table. It wasn’t always pretty, but The Buffs done more than enough to grab the 3 points thanks to a Fraser Malcolm brace and goals from Bryan Boylan and Lawrence Hendry. Jack Maccalman earned himself 3 assists on the day with his long throws, which caused havoc in the Ladeside box all game long.
Kilbirnie has the better start of the 2 sides and spent most of the rally exchanges in the Buffs’ final third with a series of early corners. Scullion swung in a great cross from a corner, which The Buffs failed to deal with, which left the ball dropping to Ryan Connelly just inside the box. Connelly hit a half volley which looked like it was heading for the back of the Buffs’ net but was blocked brilliantly by Lawrence Hendry.
Buffs first chance came when the ball was fired into Fraser Malcolm, up front, who flicked the ball round the corner for Lamont. Mark was in plenty of space and drove through the centre before sliding the ball out to the left wing for Boylan, who cut the ball inside his man and crossed the ball to the back post where Lamont had carried on his run to. Lamont got up well and headed towards the bottom right corner, but his effort was saved well by the diving, Jamie McGowan.
The Buffs had another great chance to open the scoring soon after when Mark Lamont swung across in towards the back post from a free kick on, the left wing. The cross found the foot of Lawrence Hendry who seemed to half pull out of his volley which allowed McGowan in goals to save, comfortably.
Next, it was Kilbirnie’s turn to create from a set-piece when Jon Scullion took a free kick from the left which defender, Isherwood managed to get on the end of. Isherwood got up well but didn’t connect properly with the ball and sent his header well over the bar.
Jack Maccalman’s first opportunity to launch the ball into the box came in the 28th minute when the ball deflected out for a Buffs throw in on the right-hand side. Jack threw the ball into the centre of the box where Fraser Malcolm held off his man and headed the ball into the bottom right corner to break the deadlock for The Buffs and grab his first goal since late January.
3 minutes later, Sean Mcgreer knocked the ball into the right channel between full back and centre back which Fraser Malcolm latched onto. Malcolm didn’t even have to look up before absolutely hammering the ball past McGowan and into the roof of the net to double his tally for the day.
The Ladeside did have a great chance to halve the deficit heading into the break when Scullion crossed a corner into the box from the left. The ball was headed back across goal where it had to be cleared off the line by Blair Macintyre before Dylan Brown eventually smothered the loose ball after some chaos in the 6 yard box.
The Buffs had a slow start to the half but really took control of the first 45 and grew into it as it went on. The second half followed a similar pattern as The Ladeside began the half by sending several crosses into the box, but The Buffs defence dealt with the danger well. The Buffs retaliated well, and Jack Maccalman sent a long throw into the box which Lawrence Hendry met and headed powerfully past the goalkeeper to extend his side’s lead to 3 and really stamp Buffs authority on the game.
Fraser Malcolm had a chance to complete his hat trick when Lamont lobbed a ball over the top of the Ladeside defence which allowed the big striker to chase. Fraser managed to just get a toe to the ball and knock it past the out-rushing goalkeeper, but his effort rolled just past the left post.
If the 3 points weren’t already sealed by this point Bryan Boylan ensured they were with 5 minutes left on the clock when he outjumped everyone in the box and perfectly headed a Jack Maccalman long throw into the bottom left corner to bag his 11th league goal of the season.
The chances for The Buffs didn’t finish there as Lamont sent a corner from the left side all the way to the back post to Jack Maccalman who was practically on the byline when he connected with the ball meaning he could only head the ball off the outside of the right post and out for a goal kick.
Kilbirnie did manage to grab a consolation goal in the dying minutes when Declan Walsh stepped forward from midfield and hit a perfect strike with his right foot from around 35 yards which swerved and dipped into the top right corner past Dylan Brown who couldn’t do anything to keep his clean sheet which he probably deserved.
The victory now leaves The Buffs 5 points clear of the chasing pack with both Arthurlie and Petershill suffering defeats on the day. Kevin Kelly will now lead his side to Renfrew next weekend in a pivotal game against the side who currently occupy 2nd place in the division.
