After the thrills and spills of the first half of Matchday 5 last week there were some tasty looking fixtures to savour in Matchday 4 of the SLFL.
Matchday 4
Seven Saturday 3pm kick offs got the weekend started and we begin our roundup at K Park where champions East Kilbride entertained struggling Hawick Royal Albert who parted company with coaches Kenny Aitchison and Jamie Hamilton in midweek. Things didn’t get much better for the Albert as Ross McNeil ran riot in the first half, bagging four goals in the first half before being withdrawn at half time. Further goals for Scott Stevenson and Liam Coogans secured a 6-0 victory for the champions, putting them on top of the pile on goal difference.
BSC Glasgow travelled to Selkirk looking to keep up the pressure on Kilby and it was a tough match between two of the SLFL’s most improved teams. Jack Smith gave BSC the lead inside 20 minutes and from there it was an evenly matched contest with action at both ends before Ciaren Chalmers turned the ball home for Selkirk at the beginning of the second half. The match looked set to finish all square but that man Smith turned up for BSC going into the 80th minute with the game ending 2-1.
The Spartans were also looking to trouble the leaders as Dalbeattie Star burst onto the field at Ainslie Park and took the lead through Liam Park. Spartans came back into it through Scott Maxwell and took the lead through a Scott Wilson strike on 75 minutes. Star have often been known as a bit of a bogey team for Spartans though and an own goal with 5 minutes remaining on the clock looked like the sides might be sharing the spoils until Alan Brown popped up in stoppage time and secured a 3-2 win for the Edinburgh side.
University of Stirling were unable to continue their impressive start to the season at home to Gala Fairydean Rovers as goals from Jamie Gullan and a Stephen Noble brace gave Gala a 3-1 win, taking them into 6th. The SLFL’s other Uni side, Edinburgh University welcomed Whitehill Welfare to Peffermill and got their first win of the season in an exciting game which finished 2-1.
Cumbernauld Colts were looking to put last week’s disappointment behind them as they travelled to Raydale Park to take on Gretna 2008. The match finished 1-1 but was notable for Colts’ trialist goalkeeper receiving his marching orders meaning that an outfield player had to fill in between the sticks.
Vale of Leithen went to Edusport Academy in search of their second win of the season but it was the hosts who ran out 3-1 winners, Sofiane Zeghdane, Ahmed Bouchentouf, Thomas Garnier were on the scoresheet for Academy after Jordan Finnie had put Vale ahead in the opening exchanges.
Sunday saw a thrilling encounter on offer as East Stirlingshire welcomed Civil Service Strollers to Ochilview. An entertaining match finished in a 2-2 draw.
Here’s how that all-important league table looks…
SLFL Standings 2017/18
| Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  The Spartans | 30 | 23 | 4 | 3 | 64 | 17 | 47 | 73 |
| 2 |  East Kilbride | 30 | 22 | 5 | 3 | 76 | 23 | 53 | 71 |
| 3 |  Broomhill | 30 | 20 | 5 | 5 | 71 | 27 | 44 | 65 |
| 4 |  East Stirlingshire | 30 | 19 | 7 | 4 | 67 | 31 | 36 | 64 |
| 5 |  Selkirk | 30 | 15 | 3 | 12 | 63 | 50 | 13 | 48 |
| 6 |  Cumbernauld Colts | 30 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 53 | 54 | -1 | 41 |
| 7 |  Civil Service Strollers | 30 | 11 | 7 | 12 | 47 | 44 | 3 | 40 |
| 8 |  Gretna 2008 | 30 | 12 | 4 | 14 | 50 | 56 | -6 | 40 |
| 9 |  University of Stirling | 30 | 11 | 5 | 14 | 45 | 49 | -4 | 38 |
| 10 |  Caledonian Braves | 30 | 9 | 7 | 14 | 46 | 49 | -3 | 34 |
| 11 |  Edinburgh University | 30 | 9 | 7 | 14 | 40 | 45 | -5 | 34 |
| 12 |  Whitehill Welfare | 30 | 11 | 1 | 18 | 50 | 66 | -16 | 34 |
| 13 |  Gala Fairydean Rovers | 30 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 43 | 63 | -20 | 31 |
| 14 |  Dalbeattie Star | 30 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 46 | 65 | -19 | 29 |
| 15 |  Vale of Leithen | 30 | 8 | 5 | 17 | 44 | 76 | -32 | 29 |
| 16 |  Hawick Royal Albert | 30 | 1 | 3 | 26 | 18 | 108 | -90 | 6 |
And it’s all change at the top of the scoring charts too…
