STEVIE SWIFT reckons things are looking up for his Kilbirnie Ladeside players after they kicked off the New Year with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over reigning Super Premier champions Auchinleck Talbot.

The Blasties were anything but hospitable first-footers as they took the points back up the road with a fiercely committed performance that saw every ball contested and fully seven yellow cards (five to Auchinleck players) dished out by whistler Chris Graham.

The man in the middle’s viewpoint was also integral to how the scoreline panned out after he awarded a 9th-minute penalty-kick to Kilbirnie following a calamitous blunder by normally `safe as houses` Bot goalkeeper Andy Leishman.

No danger was apparent as right-back Willie Lyle played a firm pass-back in the direction of Leishman, but visiting frontman Adam Forde chasing the ball down caught the Talbot No.1 in two minds and a dreadful first touch sent the ball bobbling away from him and into the path of the razor sharp Forde who appeared to scorn the dream scoring opportunity by slashing a strong shot wide off target.

But his momentum and Leishman’s in trying to retrieve the situation led to a collision that referee Graham considered was of the keeper’s making and he pointed to the spot amid the howls of derision voiced by home supporters and the vociferous protests of the Talbot players milling around him.

Darren Miller stepped up to net with consummate ease to establish a 1-0 lead that was almost cancelled out in Talbot’s next attacking riposte only for Blasties goalkeeper Kieran Hughes to pull off a magnificent save and deny a net bound Dwayne Hyslop header.

Swifty admitted: “Kieran’s kept that one out and he’s also came up with the goods with another terrific stop before half-time, but those two saves along with a Gordon Pope free-kick that struck the crossbar were probably the sum total of Talbot’s attempts on our goal thanks to the work of our defenders in front of him.

Michael O’Byrne was superb at getting his head onto a procession of crosses into our penalty box while Davie Anderson ran the show in midfield, but in all honesty I don’t believe we had a failure on the day.

“Yes we rode our luck at times but that’s only to be expected coming down to Auchinleck when it’s inevitable they will be on top for spells, however over the piece I reckon we fully deserved our win.

“And let’s not forget our winning margin could have been even greater but for Fordy and Kevin Turner passing up clear-cut chances late in the game when Auchinleck had thrown caution to the wind.”

The delighted team boss heaped further praise on his players in saying: “The guys came in for a training session yesterday and I’m so pleased their extra efforts have been rewarded with the points today.

“And to chalk up this win with four regulars posted missing with injuries shows we have the makings of a strong squad.”

Auchinleck supporters loudly slated whistler Graham and his assistants at the final whistle while gaffer Tommy Sloan confined himself to some pointed remarks in saying: “It was a very even game between evenly matched sides that was spoiled by the overhead conditions and a draw would probably have been fair to both teams but for the strange penalty-kick shout.

“Kilbirnie haven’t even claimed for it yet the ref has saw fit to penalise Andy and award a spot-kick that has ultimately decided the outcome.

Meanwhile, a single goal also decided the only other game to take place as Ardrossan Winton Rovers took the spoils in their Super First Division tussle with Bellshill Athletic thanks to an Ian Reid headed score around the half-hour mark.

And the Ayrshiremen, whose success lifted them to seventh top spot in the standings could have won more convincingly but for a string of fine Mark Peat saves as well as the crossbar coming to the visitors assistance when keeping out a Ben Carson effort.

YESTERDAY'S RESULTS

McBookie.com Super Premier Division: Auchinleck Talbot 0 Kilbirnie Ladeside 1.

McBookie.com Super First Division: Ardrossan Winton Rovers 1 Bellshill Athletic 0.