Last Saturday, Star were back in league action as they travelled to Stepps to face Cambria. They travelled with an almost full squad with only Asen absent through work commitments. This was to be a tough game for Star and their first defeat in five league matches.
The home side mainly relied on long ball tactics, hitting the big men upfront and feeding off the second ball, and although the game was pretty tight in the opening quarter it was Star who lost the first goal.
As their attack broke down from their own corner the ball was played back to MacDougall who slipped as he controlled, letting the Cambria midfielder gather the ball and play a clever pass to the on-running striker. The striker collected the ball and lofted a shot over Baxter which just dipped under the bar.
Star were finding it hard to get a foothold in the game and were becoming frustrated as their attacks broke down. They could have gone in at the break on level terms but for a great save from a long range Russell effort.
Into the second half and the game was beginning to get spoiled by the referee as the away side were constantly being punished by some dubious offside decisions. The referee was also letting several challenges go which on another day would have been cautions. This was getting to one player, though, as on 65 minutes Broderick kicked out at a Cambria player in the opposition half. With the referee spotting it, he ran over and gave the player a straight red for violent conduct.
Things were to get worse for Star as five minutes later they were two down. A Cambria player broke on the left hand side of the box and cleverly lifted his shot over the dive of Baxter and into the empty net.
With ten men, Moore shuffled his system bringing on Kowalski for an injured MacDougall. As Star pushed for a goal to get back into the game they were punished with a third goal, again from their own corner. The ball was smashed away and Naisby misjudged the bounce, letting the ball go over him. A Cambria player raced onto it and squeezed a shot under Baxter.
Credit to Star, though, as even three goals behind they kept on pushing for a goal, and ten minutes from the whistle they got a consolation. The ball was cleared out of the Cambria box to Phillips who hit a half volley which, with the aid of a slight deflection, ended up buried in the top corner.
With the full time whistle blowing the Lochgilphead side had lost their unbeaten record but more importantly lost the three points.
This week Star take a break from the league as they take part in the second round of the West of Scotland Cup, hosting Kilmarnock Ams at the Ropework Park with a 2pm kick off.
