Brora Rangers 3 East Kilbride 3 (Agg: 4-7): Progress was never in doubt in pyramid play-off, says Kennedy

Daily Record

05-05-2025

Brora got the tie back to within one goal of being level, but the Kilby gaffer says he never felt the game would get away from his side
Mick Kennedy insists East Kilbride's progress was never in doubt in the pyramid play-off, even when his side trailed 3-1 in Saturday's second leg.
Holding a 4-1 advantage from last week's first leg at K-Park, Kilby looked like they would be home and dry.
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But the Highland League champions made a fist of it, with Tony Dingwall's opener after 13 minutes sparking hopes of a comeback.
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John Robertson quickly levelled for EK, but Alex Cooper's 26th minute effort direct from a corner kick and Shane Sutherland's strike after 57 minutes made it 3-1 on the day and 5-4 in EK's favour in the tie.
However, Joao Balde struck two minutes later for the visitors before a David Ferguson penalty 10 minutes from time ensured EK went through to face Bonnyrigg Rose in the final for promotion to the SPFL.
And Kennedy said it was never in doubt.
'They were 3-1 up on the day but at no point was I concerned because of how comfortable we were in the game,' he insisted. 'I always felt we could keep going and score more goals.
'This might sound crazy, but outside the three goals, Chris Truesdale [the EK keeper] didn't have one save to make in the game.
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'Every time we went forward we looked dangerous and there was never a time in the game where we were being dominated or looked penned in.
'It was difficult at times because of the wind and the conditions, but I always felt we would score. We got it back to 3-3 and we looked like the team that was going to go on and win the game on the day, but the draw was more than good enough to get us through.'
Kennedy added: 'I'm not the kind of coach to sit back. It is not in my skill set to be hard to beat and defensive. My strength is to dominate the ball and be attacking. I'm glad we stuck to those principles.
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'In Brora's case, they had nothing to lose and sometimes when that is the case you are at your most dangerous.
'They were a lot more attacking than the first leg but I didn't think we were ever under constant pressure. I was still comfortable even at 3-1 down.'
East Kilbride now host Bonnyrigg at K-Park on Saturday, kick-off 3pm, followed by the second leg at New Dundas Park on May 17, also a 3pm kick-off.