EK boss on 'massive concern' as he aims to seal title and get set for play-offs (2025)

Mick Kennedy admits recent games have given him cause for concern, despite some dominant displays

East Kilbride have topped over 100 goals this season and sit on course to retain their Lowland League crown.

But Kilby boss Mick Kennedy admits he has ‘massive concerns’ about the volume of chances his side are passing up in games as the start to think about the pyramid play-offs for promotion to the SPFL.

The K-Park side only need a couple more wins to be crowned champions and that will see them qualify for another crack at reaching the professional leagues.

Last season finished in another familiar heartbreak with Stranraer earning a late extra-time win to keep Kilby in the fifth tier for an 11th consecutive campaign.

But with Kennedy taking a step closer to a shot at redemption with a 3-0 win at Albion Rovers last midweek and a 1-1 draw with Cumbernauld Colts on Saturday, recent displays like the 4-1 defeat at Caledonian Braves have him worrying.

He told Lanarkshire Live Sport : “The level of performance at the moment is fine but the opportunities we are missing is a massive concern right now.

“I am always more concerned about performances rather than points because I always feel if you get the performances right, the rest will take care of itself.

“Apart from the Caley Braves game where we were really poor and Braves were really good, we’ve performed well. Even the Celtic B game [a 5-1 defeat] could have gone either way. But on Saturday against Cumbernauld we should have won the game comfortably.

“The big concern is the sheer number of opportunities we are missing. That’s what happened in the Celtic B game as well, when the game was on a knife edge.

“Ultimately, not taking our chances is what prevented us from getting promotion last season.

“The number of goals we’ve scored in the league [105] is astonishing, but so is the number of opportunities we miss per game.

“That cost us in the play-offs last season and if Saturday had been a play-off game, that would have cost us from going up.”

In last midweek’s win over Albion Rovers, it took Kilby until the second half to break down their hosts, with Jack Leitch, Lewis Spence and Cami Elliot netting.

And on Saturday, EK had to rally from losing a fourth minute goal to Zak McKay to earn a point thanks to an Elliott penalty 10 minutes into the second half.

On the weekend draw, which stretched EK’s lead at the summit to five points from Celtic B, Kennedy said: “We dominated the game from start to finish and I don’t think anybody watching it would deny that.

“Again, the sheer number of opportunities we missed was astonishing. Colts sat in and were really well-organised, to be fair to them. They had a great chance to win it late on but couldn’t take it.

“They were really hard to beat and had a good defensive structure, trying to catch us on the break.

“Colts are fighting for their lives and you wouldn’t expect them to do anything different. I think in the grand scheme of things for them, it is a great point, but we should have won the game.”

As things stand, awaiting East Kilbride in the Lowland/Highland League play-off final in mid-April will be Brechin City or Brora Rangers (who are joint-top of the table), while the winners of that tie looks set to face either Bonnyrigg Rose or Forfar Athletic a fortnight later for a place in the SPFL next season.

The job for Kennedy now is to make sure his players don’t run out of steam or take their foot off the gas as the business end of the campaign really gets going.

Kilby travel to Civil Service Strollers on league business tonight. The club are trying to tick off the wins to be crowned Lowland League champions and still need a couple more wins to ensure they retain the title won last season.

Kennedy said: “I am pretty confident we will win the league. It would take a capitulation for us not to now. We are in a strong enough position now, but Civil Service Strollers is one of the toughest places to go because of the size of the pitch there.

“That will be a really difficult game and we will take nothing for granted. Ideally, we want it wrapped up as quickly as possible.

“We just have to go again and see where the next couple of results take us.”