Published: Wednesday, 25th March, 2009 12:30pm

Promotion bid on right track

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Maybole 0 Renfrew 2

Dougie Mitchell has once again hailed his side"s fighting spirit as Renfrew took all three points from Maybole to reinforce their growing bid for promotion.

The Frew have only recorded one loss since the turn of the year, prompting a belated dash to grab the last promotion spot, and Mitchell is convinced squad harmony has been the key to Renfrew"s impressive form.

He said: 'The lads are great, we have a squad that really want to play for Renfrew Football Club and the jersey.

'We got rid of some guys that were a bad influence and it"s made a difference. The banter on the bus coming down here was excellent.'

The repairs done by Mitchell and co-managers Colin Clark and Martin Ferry have paid dividends for the Frew. Before the New Year, the Renfrew backroom staff were facing a relegation dogfight but are now the current form team in the league, sitting joint third.

Despite a fairly fortuitous victory over Kilsyth last week, Renfrew made no mistakes against Maybole as they came flying out the traps from the start.

Clinton Maxwell opened the scoring early on with a cultured 25-yard strike after taking advantage of some awkward defending.

Dean Sexton then produced another fantastic stop to retain the lead for Renfrew before Neil Shearer was denied twice by some last ditch defending on the goal line as the Frew pressed for a second.

Renfrew scored nine minutes after the interval when Steven Reid forced the ball passed the keeper with some help from a Maybole defender.

Bole tried to bully their way back into the game and overloaded their attack. Target man Paul Kerr proved a handful to deal with and won his side a penalty in the 71st minute.

Fortunately for the Frew, Andy Stevenson smashed his spot kick off the post.

Dougie Mitchell was full of praise for his side at full time. He said: 'At first, I would have been chuffed with a point down there but we thoroughly deserved three points.

'Neil Shearer was my man of the match. Paul Kerr was a massive threat to us and I thought big Shearer stuck to his task and kept him quiet.'

Renfrew face East Kilbride on Saturday before a two week hole in the calendar and Mitchell will be looking to head into the break with a victory to keep pressure on third-placed Kilbirnie.

He added: 'I think there is a lot of football to be played before now and the end of the season. Promotion is still a long way away but if these lads can continue to show this level of commitment over the next few weeks, then anything is possible.'

'If we get ourselves promoted, or even into a play-off spot – then the lads would definitely have deserved it.'

Renfrew: Sexton, Hammond, Dickie, Fraser, Shearer, Gordon, Deas, Mort, Reid (McKay 75), Maxwell, Stewart. Subs: Marshall, Colsh, Lauchlin.

l On Saturday, Renfrew look to continue their run against East Kilbride Thistle at Western Park, kick-off 2pm.