The spoils were shared in the weekend’s local derby in the Lowland League as Spartans and Civil Service Strollers drew 1-1.
The home side took the lead after just twenty seconds when Stephen MacDonald was played in and he gave defender Mark McConnell the slip before firing in a shot at the near post which beat Josh Donaldson to give the home side the perfect start.
Despite both teams being in form and just a point separating the teams the game was scrappy to say the least.
Civil made a trio of changes with twenty minutes to go and this paid off for them.
They got a foot in the game and when a cross was whipped in McConnell was fouled in the box and the match official awarded the visitors a penalty kick.
Sub, Jack Downie, stepped up and fired the ball into the net to level the game and secure a point for Gary Jardine’s men.
Spartans boss Dougie Samuel said “I felt for the players because they gave me everything. I was pleased with their application and performance level.
“Civil are on a great run just now and are an extremely tough team to break down, but I felt we created the better chances and played the better football over the course of 90 minutes.
“We started brightly which was positive because too often this season we’ve been slow out the blocks and taken a while to find our stride.
“Too many draws are killing us. We haven’t been clinical enough at the top end of the pitch and put teams away when we’ve been on top.
“The next four league games will shape the second half of our campaign. We need others to drop points, but more importantly we need to put together another long unbeaten run, which we’re more than capable of doing.
“I’m hoping to bring in two or three new faces in January because our squad has been stretched over the past few months.
“Anyone we bring in will be for the long term, someone who we feel can improve our side and give us greater competition for places.”
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