East Kilbride boss Mick Kennedy says their stunning SPFL Trust Trophy upset against Ayr United last week should give his players the confidence to win promotion to the professional ranks for the first time.
Kilby fans are still walking on Ayr after last Tuesday’s thrilling 3-2 victory over the Honest Men at K-Park in a quarter-final tie, where Kilby raced into a two-goal lead early on, were pegged back to 2-2 but still found the resolve to grab a winner against a side playing three tiers above them in the pyramid system.
John Robertson rifled EK into the lead inside 40 seconds with a stunning strike, before Joao Balde headed home from Robertson’s cross inside 12 minutes to put the hosts in dreamland.
Spraying passes about and regularly threatening their opponents, EK looked in control until David Ferguson’s slack pass back was pounced upon by Jay Henderson to make it 2-1.
EK quickly conceded a second when Marco Rus’ effort in 64 minutes looked to have turned the momentum in Ayr’s favour.
However, Cami Elliott headed home from Ian McShane’s cross just three minutes later and EK saw out a famous win over Scott Brown’s Championship title hopefuls.
Kennedy was thrilled with the display and believes it will give his side belief they can win the Lowland League title and win promotion through the play-offs, having just missed out to Stranraer last season.
He beamed: “I’m delighted with the result. I always felt if we could impose ourselves on the game, we would always have an opportunity.
“To be fair to the boys, that’s exactly what they did. I thought we were excellent.
“You need to believe you can win the competition when you get this deep into it. It is about kicking on now and taking real confidence and belief from this into the league campaign and, hopefully, the play-offs [for promotion].
“I feel as if we are a better team than we were last season. I think we’ve got more physicality about us and we are better defensively.
“Last season, we were likely to concede goals in spells of pressure but we are much more physical now. I have a real genuine belief in how I see football and how I want to play it, and I will never navigate away from it in any circumstances.
“It would have been easy when Ayr got it back to 2-1 to be really compact and start kicking the ball up the pitch, but I always believe we can pass our way out of situations.
“It is up to the boys to manage it on the pitch as well, especially when your legs and your mind start to get tired later in the game. So it is down to them having the bravery and confidence to keep playing that style of football the whole game.
“Some of the play was excellent and the play for our second goal, in particular, was brilliant.”
Kilby could be heading to Hampden for the semi-final in January with Queen’s Park or Rangers B their opponents in the last four. They don’t play their quarter-final until December 3.
Spiders will be the favourites to progress and Kennedy says a trip to the national stadium wouldn’t worry his side.
He added: “We play Falkirk in the Scottish Cup on the Monday [December 2] and then we’ll learn who play in the semi-final the next day, so we’ll go to that game to get a good look at both clubs.
“The pitch is humongous at Hampden but that would help us to a degree, because of how we play, so I don’t think it is anything to be daunted by.
“It will be about managing the game properly and sticking to our beliefs to give ourselves an opportunity, whether it is Queen’s Park or Rangers B.”
Kilby follow up win with 7-0 thrashing of Blackburn United
East Kilbride boss Mick Kennedy was pleased to see his side build on their cup shock over Ayr by battering Blackburn United 7-0 in the fourth round of the South Challenge Cup on Saturday.
Cami Elliott hit a hat-trick to take his tally for the season to 22, while Ian McShane, Lewis Spence and Calum Biggar also got in on the act to take EK into the semi-finals in January.
Kennedy said: “It was a really good 45 minutes in the first half. It becomes difficult when you have got such control in the game to keep that going and I felt the last 30 minutes from us were very poor.
“We had so much possession and so many turnovers but, ultimately, we are just happy to be in the next round of the cup. After such a massive game on the Tuesday night, it was about trying to keep the motivation and the right mentality, so I’m delighted.
“Cammi’s general play is just outstanding, never mind his goals.”
EK are back in Lowland League action this Saturday when they travel to Bo’ness United, aiming to stay top of the table.