The last matchday seen The Buffs welcome Cumbernauld United to Buffs Park for their second home
game in a week, looking to keep momentum built following a gritty win against Rob Roy under the
lights 5 days prior to the Cumbernauld tie.
The Buffs were very quick out of the blocks against “The Nauld” and were rewarded for their
dominant start with a goal inside the first 2 minutes of the affair. After a very neat combination
between Caldwell, Lamont and Conor McLaughlin the ball ended up at the feet of Bryan Boylan who
managed to draw a foul in a very dangerous position, especially when Mark Lamont is on the park.
Lamont stood up to take the set piece from just to the right of the D and his strike rose over the wall
before hitting the underside of the bar and bouncing off Scott Law, in nets for Cumbernauld, into the
back of the net. Not long after, from another set piece, Mark Lamont crossed the ball to the back
post where Jamie Ballantyne had a great chance to score with a left footed volley, but his attempt
was saved by the goalkeeper which allowed Lawrence Hendry to follow up with a rebound effort
which was once again saved by the visiting goalkeeper. The frantic start to the game continued as a
battle in the Buffs left corner eventually led to The Nauld swinging the ball into the box and despite
Hendry’s attempt to clear the ball landed at the foot of the opposition front man who placed the ball
into the top right corner of the Buffs net. The away side began to take control of the game after their
goal but never really challenged Miller in the Buffs goal and it was instead The Buffs who retook the
lead after an excellent bit of football from The Buffs. The Buffs broke up the park with a driving run
from Blair Macintyre who sprayed the ball out to the left-hand side to Mark Lamont who played an
excellent, defence-splitting, pass into the path of Adam Caldwell who squeezed the ball under the
goalkeeper with a first-time finish. The Buffs ended the half much like the started it, on the front
foot, but were let down on a few occasions by their final product which stopped the hosts from
extending their lead going into the break.
The second half began slowly with neither team really kicking on and other than a few long range
efforts and a Bryan Boylan acrobatic attempt there was nothing really to speak of in the game until
The Buffs lost the ball whilst trying to build out from the back which allowed Cumbernauld to play a
clever chip over the Buffs defence but thankfully for the home side the forward dragged his half-
volley wide. The Buffs couldn’t get anything working in the second half and Cumbernauld created
another decent chance after their right winger seemed to just waltz through the Buffs defence
before hitting an effort goal bound which Adam Caldwell managed to get a toe to, deflecting the ball
out for a corner. The Buffs had a decent chance to break against the one-way traffic but a heavy
touch from Boylan meant that the best The Buffs could earn from it was a corner. Mark Lamont had
another speculative attempt but this time from near the half way line when he tried to catch the
keeper out form a free kick, but his effort sailed just over the bar. As time ticked away it seemed like
an endless amount of fouls were being given by the referee which Cumbernauld eventually got their
equalizer from after a free kick was driven under the Buffs wall and into the bottom right corner of
the net. Not long after, it was the away side scoring again, taking the lead this time after Mateusz
Miller came out to try and collect the ball from a United cross but flapped at it which allowed
Cumbernauld to finish into the empty Buffs net. There were claims of a free-kick from the Buffs
players as they made it clear they felt Miller was unfairly impeded when trying to deal with the
cross, but their protests fell on deaf ears as the referee saw nothing wrong with the Cumbernauld
attack. Buffs didn’t do enough to create a last gasp equalizer, and the game eventually came to a
close with the away side taking 3 points back home with them.
For not the first time this season we seen The Buffs fail to string two good 45 minutes together,
which cost The Buffs the 3 points today after a dominant first half but lacklustre second, and I’m
sure that is something Kevin Kelly will be looking to eradicate from his sides performances if he
wants to ensure more positive results lie ahead for Kilwinning Rangers.
