Tynecastle 1 Keith 1: Maroons draw on trip to the capital
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KEITH drew 1-1 with Tynecastle on a team-building trip to Edinburgh on Saturday.
Manager Craig Ewen took a squad of 16 players to the capital city to take on East of Scotland Premiership side Tynecastle, with the squad staying in Edinburgh post-match and enjoying a night out.
“It was a good day all round,” Ewen said. “It was a nice set up at Tynecastle and we got a good, competitive run out.
“We probably should have won the game as we dominated a good spell, but we didn’t just have that wee bit of quality in the final third to get a winning goal.
"Przemyslaw Nawrocki missed Saturday and had he been playing he might have stuck one away.
“We’ve got a few new players, so it was a bit of team bonding too. We had a night out and a good time was had by all.”
Keith joint captain Ryan Robertson scored the opening goal, nodding in a Michael Ironside corner, with Tynecastle equalising before half-time.
The opposition finished 11th in last season’s East of Scotland League, and provided a stiff test – with Craig Ewen still trying to find out how his team is progressing.
“It’s hard to gauge where we are at,” he said. “Friendlies are different from games against Highland League teams, but it feels like we are doing all right.
"It was a good pre-season exercise and great to get minutes into the legs as the season is coming round quickly.”
Before heading down to Edinburgh, Keith defeated Hermes 4-1 thanks to goals from James Brownie (2), Matty Tough and Przemyslaw Nawrocki.
Tomorrow they play Buchanhaven Hearts, before taking on Colony Park on Saturday.
Ewen added: “We played well against Hermes. They came into that after beating Formartine 2-0 but we got a well-deserved win.
“We will keep rotating the team and keep everybody ticking over before the big kick-off.
“We are missing six or seven for various reasons, so there will be a few younger boys starting again and we will see how they get on.”
Scott Gray is away in the United States until the end of August, while Liam Duncan, who is recovering from a cruciate injury, is likely to be out for another eight weeks.
Keith open their Highland League campaign at home to Brora Rangers on Saturday, July 23.
“We want to get as many points as we can early on,” Ewen said.
“There’s more pressure on teams in the bottom half with no Fort William and a real threat of relegation.
“We have a tough start but hopefully we can get a couple of wins early on.”
Elsewhere, Keith have been draw to face Huntly in the first round of the Aberdeenshire Cup.
The match will take place at Kynoch Park on Wednesday, July 27. The winner will take on Aberdeen in the quarter-final, with that tie scheduled for Wednesday, August 17.
