Duncan Sinclair praised his ‘battling’ Arthurlie side after they secured their third league win on the bounce on Saturday with a 2-0 victory away to Cambuslang Rangers.
Sitting on three wins from four matches in the Championship, Lie arrived at Somervell Park full of confidence against a Rangers side that had lost half of their matches this season.
Cambuslang keeper Ross Meldrum was called into action early on with shots from Dan McKay and Craig Molloy going close but neither effort troubled Meldrum with the hosts happy to sit in.
Unable to get the ball on the deck, Lie were struggling to carve out any real chances in the first 45 with Cambuslang testing Craig Gordon up the other end.
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Despite their lack of clear cut chances, Sinclair’s side eventually broke the deadlock late in the first-half after Tam McGaughey picked out Josh Payne at the back post, with Payne taking one touch for control before side-footing it home for the opener.
Payne almost grabbed his second of the afternoon after another pinpoint McGaughey cross only for his headed effort to come rattling back off the woodwork as the first-half came to a close.
After a half-time talking to, Lie came flying out the blocks after the interval with Lang keeper Meldrum on form to pull off four great stops to keep the Dunterlie Park side at bay.
The hosts’ resolve could only last so long, however, with McKay curling in a sublime effort from the edge of the area to double Lie’s advantage before they went on to comfortably see it out.
Arthurlie gaffer Sinclair revealed he knew it would be a tough fixture and heaped praise on his side for dealing with the challenge.
“I’m delighted with that,” he told Barrhead Sport. “I know the manager down there quite well so we knew it would be a tough game and they started off quite well.
“The first-half really was a battle. They stopped us playing our own game so we had a go at the boys at half-time to get the ball down and play on the ground as launching the ball forward is against what we try to do.
“We did try to change it up in the second-half but once again we had to battle before we were fortunate enough to go on and get the second goal to seal it.
“Fair play to the boys as they were able to dig in and win without being at their best. Credit goes to them for picking up another big three points away from home and continuing our wee winning run.”
Lie’s fourth win of the season takes them to 12 points, seven points behind league leaders Darvel but, crucially, with three games in hand - the first of which being this weekend against Petershill.
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Sinclair added: “We’re in a good position right now just a few points off top spot with a few games in hand. It’s important we get the games on and carry on our current form but at the end of the day we’re still up there challenging and not that far away.
“It’s an old cliche but it most definitely is just one game at a time for us and we’re not looking past Petershill this Saturday. They haven’t started well but we need to focus on ourselves.”
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