Johnstone Burgh continued their impressive form at the weekend as they made it five league wins from five with an emphatic 6-2 victory away to Annbank United.
With last weekend’s clash against Yoker United called off due to the weather, Burgh were keen to pick up where they left off from their 5-0 win over Saltcoats earlier in August.
And they did just that, with in-form forward Jason Hardie opening the scoring in the first minute.
One quickly became two with just 10 minutes gone, thanks to William Lennox, who remained composed to round the keeper and slot it into the empty net to double the advantage.
Lennox then turned provider 22 minutes in, bursting through the defence and forcing the Bankies keeper off his line before squaring it for Nathan Marriot, who had the simplest of tasks to make it three.
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To their credit, the home side dug in and pulled one back on the stroke of half-time but it was all Burgh after the interval, with Hardie taking a Lennox through ball in his stride and firing it low past the onrushing Annbank keeper for his second of the afternoon and eighth of the season.
Uncharacteristically sloppy defending allowed Annbank to quickly pull another one back just minutes after Burgh’s fourth but Jamie McKim’s side stepped it up once again shortly after that.
Lennox capped a fine performance with his second of the day 82 minutes in, rounding the keeper once again and making the defence look slightly foolish before coolly tucking it away.
And, with five minutes remaining, Sam Esplin rounded off the rout with a decent finish from a tight angle as free-scoring Burgh continued their winning run with maximum points.
Johnstone gaffer McKim said: “I’m over the moon with that win on Saturday. You can’t not be happy when you win like that, especially away from home.
“The boys really did excellent. We were 1-0 up just one minute in, then got ourselves 3-0 up on 20 minutes.
“We’re doing really well so far and I’m delighted with five wins from five and maximum points.”
Due to their schedule and postponements, McKim’s men haven’t been able to enjoy back-to-back games since August 10.
Burgh’s current winning run has come despite the stop-start nature of Junior football, with the gaffer admitting he is desperate for this Saturday’s clash with Newmains at Keanie Park to get the go-ahead.
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He added: “Looking ahead to Newmains this weekend, first thing’s first, I just hope the game is on.
“We’ve not had back-to-back Saturday matches since the first couple of weeks of the season, so it’d be a good chance to finally build some momentum.
“It’s been a bit of nightmare with postponements and call-offs but, hopefully, we get going on Saturday.
“Newmains will be a tough one, as every single game in this league is. We’ll treat them with the same respect we give to every team we come up against.
“We will continue to work hard and, hopefully, make it six wins from six.”
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