Bellshill 2 Ardeer Thistle 1: Jamie Newton nets double as hosts maintain West of Scotland Third Division title bid

Bellshill Athletic made inroads at the top of the West of Scotland Third Division table after grinding out a third straight 2-1 victory to keep their promotion bid firmly on track.

A Jamie Newton brace proved decisive for the North Lanarkshire outfit as they overcame Ardeer Thistle to move within a solitary point of fellow title hopefuls Vale of Leven at the league summit.

Bellshill dictated large spells of the game but were made to sweat when Greg Kean netted in the closing stages for the visitors to set up a nervy end to the contest played out in attritional conditions.

Two-goal hero Newton recognised the importance of his double and declared he would be more than satisfied with winning ugly for the remainder of the season if it means Bellshill gain promotion to the Second Division.

He told GlasgowWorld: "We just need to keep the foot on the peddle and grind out wins now. We've got nine league games left to play. We went through a bit of a tough stage after Christmas because we never played many games; we only had about two games in the space of two months which killed us a bit.

"But now we're starting to pick up results again and we've got to treat these remaining games as nine cup finals. I don't think we've been beaten at home all season, so we just need to keep that run going for as long as possible.

"It's going to be tough, but we've got great strength in depth in the squad. It was the same last week (against Glasgow United), we've had guys coming on and making a good impact. We're all coming together and hopefully we can kick on.

"Ever since I joined the club, the place has been totally galvanised. The Scottish Junior Cup run has done massive things for us and we're reaping the benefits now both on and off the park. We've managed to attract a better calibre of player to the club."

Reflecting on his own personal performance, Newton joked: "I probably should've had four goals on another day! I was just gutted not to grab a hat-trick in the end. It's hard to score many from my position as left wing-back, especially on a tight park like this."

On the back of two consecutive victories against Girvan and Glasgow United yielding a 2-1 scoreline, Bellshill were aiming to make it a hat-trick of successes as they returned to Rockburn Park.

In a game of few clear-cut chances, the home side got off to a dream start when Newton found the top right-hand corner of the net with across-cum-shot from distance after 13 minutes.

Ardeer had rarely threatened the hosts' backline throughout the first-half but found themselves back on level terms on the stroke of half-time. Robert Frew won possession midway inside the Bellshill half before slipping a clever ball in behind for Greg Kean to race on to. The attacker drove forward into the penalty area before drilling a low shot beyond the outstretched JC Hutchison into the bottom corner.

Bellshill responded well after the interval and Gary Stewart fizzed an early effort inches over the crossbar before helping his team mates reclaim the lead after 64 minutes.

The striker's deep cross towards the back post from the right-hand side of the box was met in mid-air by Newton, who timed his run perfectly to nip in front of a defender before bulleting a header into the net.

Ardeer continued to pose very little attacking threat with their best chance of the half falling the way of Allan Halliday who glanced a header from Kean's corner narrowly wide of the target. Substitutes Sean Clark and Ben Elliott both came within a whisper of adding a third goal in the closing stages as Bellshill looked to press home their advantage, but the hard work had already been done.

Bellshill Athletic (4-4-2): Hutchison, Wilson, Thomson, Craig, Cherrie, Cowie (Clark; 63), Fraser, Laughlin (Elliott; 87), Newton (McQueen; 87), Stewart, Markey (Currie; 63)

Unused: Binnie (GK), Tierney, McGrath

Ardeer Thistle (4-4-2): Summers, Lewis, Baxter, Gibbons, McGregor, McManus (Halliday; 69), Donovan (Trialist; 69), Loudon, Frew, Wardrope, Kean (Taylor; 88)

Unused: Hussey (GK), Hindmarsh, J. Morgan, S. Morgan

Referee: Luke McCauley

Attendance: 150 est

GlasgowWorld Man of the Match: Jamie Newton (Bellshill Athletic)