Bellshill Athletic 3 West Park United 3: West of Scotland 3rd Division leaders let three-goal lead slip

West of Scotland 3rd Division pacesetters Bellshill Athletic threw away a three-goal cushion to draw with newly-promoted West Park United at Rockburn Park.

In a dramatic six-goal thriller, the home side looked to be home and hosed with maximum points in safe keeping when Kyle Laughlin, Kieron Markey and Owen Lee had the North Lanarkshire side in control.

However, last season’s fourth division champions staged a stirring late comeback to secure an unlikely share of the spoils courtesy of a sensational 12-minute hat-trick from striker Connor McCambridge.

Despite a late second half collapse, Bellshill remain three points clear of Irvine Victoria and Vale of Leven at the top of the table while West Park jump up to ninth place.

It didn’t stop furious co-manager Dean Muir from criticising his side’s performance as he demanded a vast improvement from his players.

He told GlasgowWorld: “We’ve got away with a point, in all honesty. I thought West Park deserved to beat us over the course of 90 minutes, they were the better team and if they’d taken a few more chances late on then we couldn’t have complained.

“We were lucky to go in 2-0 up at half-time but even when we went three goals ahead we didn’t manage the game well. We could see once they scored that a comeback like that was coming. It seems as through we freeze a wee bit, which is a concern and something we need to address in training.

“We need to become a harder team to beat, especially at home. To concede three goals in such a short spell is criminal and ultimately we’ve gained a point that we didn’t deserve. In terms of our performance levels, we’ve got a long way to go and a big improvement is needed.

“We still remain undefeated but this draw and the Lesmahagow game (5-5 draw) feel as bad as defeats. It might prove to be a decent point at the end of the season, but right now it doesn’t feel like that. It gives other teams impetus that they can come here and break us down.”

Bellshill started brightly on the front-foot and it took attacking midfielder Kyle Laughlin just five minutes to open the scoring. Visiting keeper Elliot Rinn gifted the ball straight to Kieron Markey and the striker teed up the on-rushing Laughlin who steered a low effort into the bottom left-hand corner.

Another costly defensive mistake on 16 minutes, this time from West Park centre-back Ryan Donohoe, saw Markey nip in to intercept a stray pass and the towering forward found himself one-on-one with the keeper before carrying the ball round Rinn and side-footing into an empty net.

A third goal almost arrived straight from the restart with the visitors living dangerously deep inside their own half. Winger Mark Kyle won back possession on the left-hand side before baring down on goal. He proceeded to poke the ball round the diving Rinn from a narrow angle but it flashed inches wide of the far post.

West Park had posed little attacking threat, with the league leaders knocking the ball around with confidence and precision. A water break midway through the first-half did little to stem the flow of Bellshill pressure.

Kyle Caig glanced a header from a short corner narrowly over the top, while West Park registered their first real chance when midfielder Ryan Watson’s curling drive clipped the top of the crossbar.

Rinn then pushed a powerful Caig strike onto the post as the first half drew to a close. West Park improved after the break, with Bellshill No.1 JC Hutchison producing an excellent diving save to tip Connor McCambridge’s clever flick from a free-kick behind for a corner.

Just when it seemed a comeback could be on the cards, the hosts added a third goal after 63 minutes when Sean Clark’s corner from the right was met in the air by ex-Barnsley youth Owen Lee, whose looping header flew over Rinn into the net.

West Park could easily have accepted defeat but when Miltos Lionis slipped a defence-splitting pass through for McCambridge to calmly slot home with just 13 minutes left to play, the majority of spectators inside the ground will have believed it would prove little more than a consolation goal .

Little did they know that only two minutes later the fightback was well unruly on. Substitute Conor Black’s mazy run into the Bellshill half saw him pick out the unmarked Lionis who squared the ball across for McCambridge to tap home from close range.

Hutchison’s outstretched boot looked to have denied McCambridge a hat-trick in the closing stages but the West Park No.9 found himself in the right place at the right time moments later to get on the end of Ryan Ralston’s cross to complete a stunning comeback.

Delighted West Park boss Mick Lee felt the end scoreline could easily have been “seven each” and reckons his side are beginning to find their feet in the Third Division after a disrupted start to their campaign due to a significant turnover of players.

He said: “That must’ve been some game to watch! We’re disappointed with the goals we gave away in the first half. From our point of view, they stemmed from individual mistakes which happens now and again, especially when you’re a new team.

“The reaction in the second half was unbelievable. We decided to go with three up front, put more pressure on them and it worked. We’ve got the crux of a really good team, they’ve not quite fully gelled yet but we’re getting there slowly but surely.

“I would’ve taken a point before the game as Bellshill have been flying, but we’re actually a bit disappointed we’ve never snuck it at the end. We genuinely don’t know where we are at the moment, but we’re more than comfortable in this league. It’s up to us now whether we want to be competing at the top end or bottom end moving forward.”

Bellshill Athletic (4-4-2): Hutchison, Lee, Wilson, Fraser, Logan (B. Wilson; 73), Clark, Laughlin, Kyle (L. Currie; 73), Elliott, Markey (J. Currie; 66), Caig (Thomson; 85)

Unused: Binnie (GK), Craig, Oliphant

West Park United (4-4-2): Rinn, Chino (Black; 45), Donohoe, Lochhead, McLachlan, Gibson (Miller; 72), Watson, Long (Ralston; 72), Lionis, McCambridge, Taylor, Trussler

Unused: Doherty (GK), Tran, Horne

Referee: Kieran O’Reilly

Attendance: 235

GlasgowWorld Man of the Match: Connor McCambridge (West Park United)