Renfrew co-manager Martin Ferry admitted his side were lucky to come through a Sectional League Cup fixture pile up unscathed after they battled to a 2-1 league win at home to Gartcairn.

With a 3-2 second round win over Arthurlie last Monday, Frew were then forced to play their third round clash just two days later as they fell to a 4-2 loss at home to Premiership side Beith.

That packed schedule took its toll on Ferry’s side at the weekend with a depleted team lining up against the Cairn in the league.

Despite controlling possession early on, Frew fell behind just 20 minutes in at New Western Park on Saturday before a spirited second-half performance as goals from David McKenna and Paddy O’Keefe sealed the comeback win.

And while Ferry was delighted to escape with three points, he was still upset at last week’s decision to play two league cup games in three days.

“It’s been ridiculous,” Ferry told Gazette Sport. “We had a few issues with numbers and injuries due to the number of games in the last week or so. 

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“We even had to have Colin Clark on the bench and we had one fit sub ready to use. The league cup scheduling was just too much - it could have been handled very differently.

“Saying all that, it was excellent to come away with the three points on Saturday. We had a lot of the ball in the first 45 and didn’t do much with it. They go 1-0 up and had a chance to add another but we clear it off the line which was the catalyst to get us in one behind and bounce back well in the second-half.

“We did really, really well all things considered and David McKenna scored a great goal to get us back into it. He missed four or five easier ones before that which isn’t like him, but he still appeared in the box at the right time and kept going until he got us level.

“Our second came from a scramble after a corner but it was more than we deserved after our performance in the second-half.

“With the schedule we had to face, three points is all you can ask for and we managed to achieve that. We’ve come out relatively unscathed from the pile up with a few wins and no major injuries. Hopefully that’s out the other end of it now.”

Renfrew are back in action tonight as they make the short trip to Brig O’Lea Stadium to take on Neilston.

READ MORE: Ferry hails 'perfect' Sectional League Cup weekend

With former Renfrew players Chris Cameron and Davie Gordon co-manager and coach in Neilston, Ferry knows there will be a familiarity as they line up and jokingly revealed he hopes Cameron and Gordon didn’t learn too much from their time at Renfrew.

Ferry added: “We’re away to Neilston tonight now which is always a difficult place to go. A couple of our former players are up there so they’ll all be well up for it.

“I like to believe myself and Clarky taught Chris and Davie well, hopefully just not well enough to take the points tonight.

“The young pretenders will be out to get points off us but we gave the boys a rest on Monday rather than training so we’ll be fresh. Recovery is the key in this game.”

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