JOHNSTONE Burgh manager Jamie McKim has praised his “brilliant” players after they secured another league victory on Saturday.

A brace from Ricky McArthur and a Nathan Marriott strike were enough to earn the points as Burgh ran out 3-1 winners at Vale of Leven.

McKim admits he was delighted by the performance, after being disappointed by a rather lacklustre effort against Maryhill the previous week.

And he has also been impressed by the way his troops have coped with the difficulties caused by the coronavirus crisis.

McKim told Gazette Sport: “The first half hour on Saturday was a battle but, when we managed to get our foot on the ball and play a wee bit, it was a brilliant team performance.

“Winning when you’re not playing well is a good habit but, long term, you want to be playing well more often than not. On Saturday, we were excellent and moved the ball really well. It’s just good to see such a positive start because I had a wee worry coming off the Covid break and how things were disrupted with training and stuff.

“It’s hard to get your rhythm going, so it’s good to see it’s starting to come together.

“Now it’s about trying to build that momentum week after week.”

McArthur put Burgh ahead on 39 minutes as he swept the ball into the net at the back post after a surging run and low cross from full-back Dom Boland.

The visitors doubled their lead on the stroke of half-time as Sean Fitzharris battled hard to win the ball on the edge of the box before squeezing a pass through to Marriott, who converted at the second time of asking.

McArthur struck again 10 minutes into the second half as he latched on to a long ball from Stuart Collins before lobbing over the stranded Vale goalkeeper.

That took his goals tally to five already this season.

Fraser Williams pulled a goal back for the hosts with a well taken free-kick but it proved to be no more than a consolation as Burgh maintained their unbeaten start to the season.

Burgh have now won three and drawn one of their opening four league matches.

They travel to Forth Wanderers this Saturday, with McKim expecting a difficult afternoon.

He added: “They’ve had a good start to the season and beat Wishaw at the weekend, so it’s going to be really tough.”