18/02/2017  |  League

Cumbernauld Colts   1  v  2  Selkirk

CUMBERNAULD COLTS slumped to their second successive Lowland League defeat against a spirited Selkirk side who finished with nine men at Broadwood.

First half goals from Ricky Miller and Phil Addison were enough to earn the Borders side only their fifth win of the season despite playing most of the second period with ten men after Unpha Koroma saw red.

Scott Davidson�s late strike gave Colts some hope before Addison also saw red in injury time, but it was too little too late for Colts who were unable to salvage anything from a disappointing afternoon.

The Colts management duo made numerous changes to the team which lost the previous week at Edinburgh University with keeper Sam George making his first start of the season, and talisman Stephen O'Neill returning to the side after being sidelined with injury for almost three months.

The hosts started brightly and almost edged into the lead in 14 minutes when Johnny Black had the ball in the net but he was ruled to be offside much to the dismay of the Colts faithful.

However, it was the visitors who edged in front against the run of play in 16 minutes when Kirwan was judged to have pulled on the shirt of Gary Nicholson inside the box and the referee pointed to the spot.

And Selkirk skipper Miller made no mistake with the spot kick drilling the ball low past George to give the visitors the lead.

Colts responded well and almost grabbed a quick equaliser when Jamie Broadfoot's corner found Sean Brown inside the 6-yard box but the striker's flick header was cleared off the line.

But matters went from bad to worse for Colts in 27 minutes when then fell further behind after some sloppy defending from a series of Selkirk corners.

After Selkirk�s third corner in a row George failed to punch clear and the ball broke to Miller at the back post, Miller returned the ball back across the face of goal where Addison was on hand to blast his shot low into the net from 10 yards.

The Cumbernauld men were now up against it but shortly after falling two behind they created a few chances which could have given them a route back into the game but O'Neill and Davidson couldn't convert from close range.

The hosts started the second period unchanged and they were given a boost in 52 minutes when the visitors were reduced to ten men after Koroma was sent off for a second booking.

However Colts struggled to get any kind of foothold on the game despite enjoying large periods of possession.

But they did come close to reducing the deficit in 71 minutes when Lewis Wilson found Broadfoot inside the box and the captain turned brilliantly to find space but he pulled his shot wide of the post from 15 yards.

Colts continued to try and find a way back into the game with further half chances falling to Wilson, Brown and Broadfoot but on all occasions the finish didn�t match the good build-up.

The home side did eventually pull one goal back in injury time when O'Neill and Kirwan combined well to set up Davidson and the central defender drilled the ball high into the net in 90 minutes.

And then in a strange set of circumstances the visitors were reduced to nine men when Addison was shown red after receiving a second booking for dissent and the hosts all of a sudden had some renewed hope going into injury time.

But the men from Cumbernauld couldn�t capitalise on some late pressure and Selkirk held out strongly to secure all three points and give themselves some hope of fighting their way out the relegation zone.

Cumbernauld Colts; George, Kirwan, Wilson, MacFarlane, Davidson, Marshall, O�Neill, Lachlan, Brown, Broadfoot, Black. Subs; Ward, Fahey, Watson, Barclay, Fergus, Sheridan, Hunter.

Selkirk; Amos, Sclater, Christie, Harley, Fleming, Miller, King, Nicholson, Neave, Koroma, Addison. Subs; Sheridan, Collin, Tshibangu.

Stuart Coleman