Dalbeattie Star made it two wins out of two in the South of Scotland League following a convincing win away to Nithsdale Wanderers. Lorimer Park has proved to be a tough ground for Star to take anything away from in the past few seasons and this match was no different, but they faced up so well to the tough task that faced them and eventually ran out comfortable winners. You always know what you are going to get when you travel to Sanquhar for a match, as the home side play a very aggressive, in your face style of football but the Star youngsters let their football do the talking. The home side always look to go forward quickly at every opportunity and even when they went down to ten men, they continued to push forward but the Star defence coped well with what was thrown at them. Indeed, but for an inspirational performance from home keeper Les Graham, the winning margin could have been a lot more. Despite conceding five goals Graham produced a string of top class saves to keep the scoreline respectable, with the two best being a superb low fingertip save down to his right to deny Declan Rogerson and another to touch a Connor Potts piledriver over the bar. On top of that he must have faced a handful of one on ones with the Star attack, and only once did he concede.

Star lined up with just two changes to the starting XI that beat Creetown at Islecroft the week before, with two trialists being replaced by Declan Rogerson and Ewan Taylor, who was making his first start for his local side. The tall defender was directly up against the home sides dangerman Cameron MacKenzie and despite him scoring just before half time, Taylor had a fine match ensuring the forward had little influence on the match. Star got off to a flying start in this game and within 15 minutes they were deservedly two goals ahead and well on their way to victory. The first came in the 5^th minute when Potts collected the ball on the right hand side of the penalty area, cut inside a defender onto his left foot and unleashed a terrific strike that gave Graham no chance at all. The lead was doubled in the 13^th minute when Potts collected a deep cross at the back post that needed two defenders to block his shot. He then rolled the ball back to Adam Jamieson at the edge of the box and with everyone expected an attempt at goal, Jamieson played a clever little pass to Kyle Higgins who was unmarked in the middle of the penalty area and he took a touch before passing the ball past the helpless Graham.

The home side pushed hard to get back into the match but they struggled to trouble a well organised Star defence. In fact it was the Islecroft side that looked the more likely to score again and the only surprise was that it took until the 43^rd minute to make it 3-0. Potts was again the tormentor in chief when he chested down a cross and drilled a low left foot shot just inside the far post, again giving Graham no chance at all. That made it 3-0 with half time approaching but we have seen Star teams lose 3-0 leads at Lorimer Park before and right enough within seconds Wanderers were back in the match with a well worked and well taken goal. A neat pass for once split the Star defence and McKenzie ran through and slipped the ball low past Taylor Hall. It was just the tonic the home side was looking for and they came out for the second half with a bit more hope in their hearts.

However that was pretty much extinguished early in the second period when Star restored their three goal advantage. A trialist came on as a substitute and within seconds he latched on to a loose ball inside the penalty and fired a crisply struck right foot effort that comprehensively beat Graham in the home goal. Just before the hour Nithsdale went down to ten men when player manager Danny Naismith was shown a straight red card for an off the ball incident right in front of the referee. This didn’t seem to upset the home side too much and in fact they probably played better when a man short. However Star was always that bit quicker and sharper and should have added a few more to their tally before the trialist completed the scoring in the 78th minute when he broke clear, rounded the keeper and slid the ball into the empty net. Lorimer Park is obviously a happy hunting ground for the trialist as he scored twice on Star’s last visit to the ground in April.

So an excellent afternoon’s work for Star in what was the first in a run of six away games in a row. Next up is a trip to Lochmaben where Star will be looking to make it three wins from three

NITHSDALE WANDERERS 1          DALBEATTIE STAR 5                                             

McKenzie (44)                                   Potts (5, 42)

                                                                  Higgins (13)

                                                                  Trialist (53, 78)

                                                                  HT 1-3  Att. 75

NITHSDALE WANDERERS: Graham, Harper, K Paterson, Watt, Naismith, Ferrans, Roy (Adams 67), Kennedy, F Paterson (Roberts 60), McGill, McKenzie (McNeil 80)

Subs: McMurdo, French, Baillie, McCrone

Yellow Cards: Harper, Kennedy

Red Cards: Galbraith (58)

DALBEATTIE STAR: Hall, E Taylor, O'Sullivan (Meechan 64), Higgins, Harkness, D Taylor, Middlemiss, Caffrey (Trialist 52), Rogerson (Trialist 64), Potts, Jamieson (R Taylor 75)

Subs not used: Cantlie, Palmer, Ferguson

Yellow Cards: Harkness

Ref: E MacFarlane

Star got their competitive season off to a winning start thanks to debutant Stevie Harkness scoring a late winner against a well organised Creetown side. The home side certainly had the better of exchanges but they struggled to break down the Creetown defence and create many clearcut chances, which considering the stop start nature of the pre-season Star had to endure, was perhaps not surprising.

The afternoon began in a sombre mood as both sides paid a respectful tribute to our former player Charlie Watson, who tragically lost his brave battle against cancer in the summer. With this being our first home match since Charlie's sad passing, it was only right and fitting that this should be done and we thank Creetown FC for their co-operation and also for paying their own respects in such a dignified manner. 

Star began on the front foot and as early as the 4th minute Connor Potts fired just wide. The first shot on target  came in the 15th minute but Downie in the visitors goal saved comfortably from Star's trialist striker. The Islecroft side continued to push and probe and midway through the half Potts again tried his luck but again Downie saved. Star began the second half by stepping up a gear and in the 48th minute new captain Kyle Higgins fired in a fine effort that Downie did superbly well to tip over the bar. As the match wore on it became evident that one goal would probably be enough to take all three points and thankfully it arrived for Star in the 77th minute. An Adam Jamieson corner fell nicely for Stevie Harkness and and he shot low past Downie from 8 yards much to his and his team mates delight. Despite posing little or no goal threat throughout the match, Creetown almost snatched an unlikely equaliser in the 84th minute but another debutant Taylor Hall, produced a terrific save to make sure all three points remained at the Croft. 

So a good start for Star but incredibly their next scheduled home match is not until 18th October, unless we get a home draw in the SFA South Region Challenge Cup. So we begin a long run of away matches with a trip to Sanquhar to face Nithsdale Wanderers, who always make it tough for us.  

DALBEATTIE STAR 1                        CREETOWN 0                       

Harkness (77)

                                                                  HT 0-0  Att.

DALBEATTIE STAR: Hall, Trialist, Harkness, Jamieson, Higgins, D Taylor, Middlemiss, Caffrey, Trialist (E Taylor 60), Potts, O'Sullivan (R Taylor 87)

Subs not used: Ferguson, Bryson, Benson, Cantlie, Milligan

Yellow Cards: None

CREETOWN: Downie, Trialist, Trialist, Whorlow, Richardson, Trialist, Halliday (Trialist 72), Hughes, Rennie, Rogers, Trialist

Subs not used: McCulloch, Trialist, Trialist

Yellow Cards: Rogers, Richardson, Hughes

Ref: J Brown