The match exploded into life as Dave Hendry found his shooting boots inside the first minute. His well-placed effort from 25 yards left the goalkeeper rooted to the spot to give FPC a dream start.
Heads up!
A second goal was added shortly later when Barclay showed exactly why David Fraser chose to put him straight back into the starting line-up as he bulleted a header past the stranded goalkeeper.
The Gaffer scores
The comeback king was it at again minutes later as he magnificently lobbed the goalkeeper to send Ra ‘Corner racing into a three-goal lead. The Killie defence was at sea and unrest started to show.
Alexander went close, but his effort crashed back off the post after some excellent build-up play. However, it was only a matter of time before the fourth goal arrived. Skipper Hendry again produced another good finish as FPC began to run riot.
A few minutes later, Barclay completed a magnificent first half hat-trick on his return debut to make it 5-0. However, complacency began to creep into the FPC ranks and some slack marking at a corner allowed Killie to pull a goal back. David Fraser was grateful for the half-time whistle as he made a couple of changes to ensure a comeback was impossible.
To their credit, KIllie did have the best of the opening exchanges in the second period, and deserved to pull a second goal back. The nature of the goal was fortunate, but the finish was decent nonetheless.
Fraser immediately made another change after the second goal from the visitors, opting to go for a three-pronged attack to kill the game. And that’s exactly what they did.
Gardiner sent Hendry clear to tuck the ball nicely into the corner of the net to join Barclay on a treble. By this stage the game was over as a contest and the home side were unlucky not to add to their lead, with Pettigrew rattling a post and Alexander coming close.
One worry for Fraser will be that Alexander had to be taken off with ten minutes remaining with what looked like a very painful knee injury. On the plus side, this allowed the gaffer to get his boots on and his impact on the game was instant. A string of sitters was followed by FPC’s seventh goal of the match.
All in all, a very good day at the office for the FirParkCorner boys, with their league campaign signed off in great style. At the post-match press conference, Fraser said: “I’ve been very pleased with the performances over the past couple of months and today’s win was the icing on the cake. It’s a shame we couldn’t have played like this all season, but with a string of friendlies coming up, we’ll have the chance to improve before the serious stuff starts again in July. It’s great to have John back and I now feel the squad is stronger than ever. I can’t wait to let it loose on Worldnet.”