Blantyre Victoria 7 - 0 Lugar Boswell Thistle
Scorers: Nadeem Zeb (13'), Scott McKean (57'), Lewis MacDonald (72', 81'), John Henderson (77'), Jake Hughes (82', 86')
It is very rare to see a side hit the woodwork five times in one match and also manage to score seven times, unfortunately for Lugar Boswell Thistle, this was the case today.
The opening ten minutes of the game could certainly be described as dull, with neither of the two sides having any real efforts on goal. The Vics finally got into the flow of things, Aaron Black whipping in a free-kick from a wide area. Scott McKean got his head on it, directing the ball towards goal - only to be denied by the crossbar, then swiftly cleared. In the thirteenth minute, Black crossed in another free-kick from the opposite wing. The cross found Nadeem Zeb who hooked the ball across the Lugar keeper to give The Vics the opener.
After a positive opener from youngster Aaron Black, he was forced off in the 27th minute due to a hamstring injury. This made way for Jake Hughes who was seeking his first goal of 2019.
In the 37th minute John Henderson switched the ball to Lewis MacDonald, who was waiting deep into the Lugar half. The winger drove into the box and his eventual effort was destined for goal before being deflected off of the Lugar centre-half before being collected by the hands of the keeper.
Just two minutes before the break McKean was in again. He picked up the ball from MacDonald and dropped his right shoulder to turn past the defender and get a shot away. His left-footed effort had the goalkeeper beat but it was denied by the crossbar.
In the first minute of the second half, John Gibson would have been left baffled as to why his side were not two goals to the good. Henderson drilled a ball into the box from the by-line, Hughes failed to control it and it bounced perfectly for MacDonald. His volleyed shot hit the bar again.
Scott McKean eventually found the second goal the Vics were looking for, as John Henderson slipped by the Jaggy Bunnets left-back before finding McKean just behind the penalty spot with a cut-back pass. The attacker slotted the ball into the bottom corner to give him his second goal in a Vics shirt.
72 minutes in Lewis MacDonald got a goal that he thoroughly deserved. The ball came to McKean in the box with his back to goal, he then slipped the ball to the winger who struck it hard under the keeper into the bottom corner - to give The Vics a 3 - 0 lead.
Just five minutes later the home-side were in again, this time it was John Henderson. The Vics No.9 drove eloquently into the area, before neatly poking the ball in between the keepers legs - very similar to his goal against Maybole last month.
9 minutes from time Lewis MacDonald made it five, as Nad Zeb hooked the ball past a Lugar defender playing in the winger. With plenty of time on the ball he curled a right-footed shot past the keeper from 12 yards out into the bottom corner.
Within 60 seconds, Lugar were caught out again as Jake Hughes won the ball deep in the Ayrshire sides half. Hughes then had the simple job of slotting the ball past the keeper to make it 6 - 0. Four minutes before the full-time whistle, Hughes scored his second to finish off proceedings with a header from close range.
A destructive victory for Lugar Boswell Thistle which sees their inevitable relegation to League 2 confirmed. Nevertheless a huge win for the Vics, rejuvenating their promotion hopes after Ardrossan dropped points at home to Bellshill.
