Greenock hit by double injury blow in friendly draw away to Neilston

GREENOCK Juniors suffered a double injury in a 3-3 friendly draw away to Neilston on Saturday.

Darren Boyle tweaked a hamstring in the warm-up at Brig o' Lea and did not start the game, while more significantly, defender Jay Woods suffered ankle ligament damage after an excellent first half and is expected to be out for three weeks or so.

Both teams served up a very watchable match and by and large gained plenty from the outing, with James Marks, Ryan Sinnamon and Darren Patton the Greenock scorers.

The performance against their Second Division hosts gave Nock manager Gary Fleming plenty to chew over ahead of his team's return to league action against Glasgow Perthshire.

There was plenty for Nock manager Gary Fleming to take from his team's friendly with Neilston ahead of a big game against Glasgow Perthshire next week. (Image: alex craig) It's hoped that in spite of his injury blow on Saturday, Boyle will be available for the clash of second against third in the Third Division - a game which should attract a good crowd to Ravenscraig.

Meanwhile, Greenock's under-20 side are now the only unbeaten team left in Conference D of the West of Scotland Football Development League after a 4-3 win away to Yoker Athletic on Friday night.

In a very competitive league, the Nock lie in fifth place on 13 point but with games in hand on all the teams around them, and just two points behind leaders Clydebank - meaning that if Greenock were to win their game in hand they'd jump to the top of the table.

The Nock's goalscorers at Holm Park were Craig Darroch, Jay Beckley, Liam English and an own goal which was credited to Yoker keeper Mitchell. Man of the match was Dylan Loy.

Next up for Greenock is a trip to Renfrew Leisure Centre to take on a Thorn Athletic side who lie one place below the Nock in the standings and who did their goal difference no harm at all with a 12-0 thumping of Conference D bottom dogs Largs Thistle on Friday night.

The Renfrewshire side have proved a tough nut for Greenock to crack in the past and the law of averages, if nothing else, must be on the Nock's side going into the game.

Also on Friday, the 2009s returned to action with a bang, beating Bridge of Weir United 4-0 in a League Cup tie.

The team played some great football in a confidence-restoring win and will use this as a foundation for ongoing development and improvement as the season progresses.

Man of the match was hat-trick hero Ethan Deveney, while Cameron Crawford also scored to make up the four.

The team face Knighstwood away next week in the league and will be out to reverse a narrow 1-0 loss from a couple of weeks ago.

On to Saturday, and the free-scoring Greenock 2008s had to settle for just the eight goals and a clean sheet away to Cambuslang Football Academy.

Despite having a 100 per cent record in their six games to date, the Nock youngsters are only third in the table, though that is largely due to a fixture backlog.

Jay Beckley brought his total goals scored for the weekend up to four with a hat-trick, having scored for the development team on Friday, and bagged the man of the match award to boot, while Sam Keyes scored a brace and Liam Laughlin, Jaydan Dhother and Mikel Greene added one apiece.

The 2008s are at home to St Antonine next week and will be looking to further consolidate their league position.

The 2007s carried their winning streak in the league over to the Scottish Cup with a tight 2-1 win over Bridge of Weir United.

Having beaten the same opposition 6-0 in the league the previous week, the boys perhaps anticipated an easier passage through to the next round, but Bridge of Weir were much improved, and the Nock will have benefitted from coming through a real test and achieving their main aim of progressing to the next round.

Aiden Blair notched Greenock’s goals, with Harvey Woods earning the man of the match accolade.

At the time this article was published, it is not clear if the boys will have a competitive fixture next week.

Greenock are sponsored by Saveheat, Keystore Cowal View, Safer Group, The Lighthouse Bar, McGills, ARC and Blairs.