The early cheer for the ‘Well fans who managed to traverse the traffic jams and floods to reach Rugby Park for the start of the game was the happy news that Scott Leitch had recovered from his shoulder injury and that the usual eleven took to the field.
We kicked off with our backs to the travelling support and faced the teeth of the driving rain. It was soon apparent that the surface, though far from waterlogged, was fast and tricky. Players on both sides looked uncomfortable.
Clarkson and Craig showed plenty of pace in five minutes when they charged into attack after Killie’s first corner. But good possession was lost on the box.
When Canero, on the right edge of the box at the touchline, slipped the ball through Adams’ legs before firing into the far corner. Our best chance of an equaliser looked like arriving ten minutes later when Clarkson beat the offside trap and launched himself towards the Killie box. As he set up for the shot Canero put in a challenge and the referee ‘Windy’ McCurry awarded the free kick. No one has any explanation why no card was shown. Adams hit the shot sweetly enough but Dubordeau held.
We held on till the break but not without a few scares. Careless slips from Corrigan and Hammell on either side of the park set up chances for the opposition. But poor finishing allowed Terry the chance to inspire the troops in the dressing room.
We made some impression early in the second half but conceded the second on the hour when a fluffed clearance from Hammell fell short of Marshall and Boyd reacted quickly to poke the ball home.
Quinn and Dair then replaced Hammell and Pearson and we switched to 3-5-2. Ten minutes later and Burns replaced Leitch and now it was 4-3-3. But there was no threat on the Killie goal. Passes flew astray and the breaks not materialise
The players fought till the end but the unbeaten record was gone.