HELENSBURGH’S poor run of form continued when they lost 4-2 away to Westerlands in the Greater Glasgow Premier AFL on Saturday – but boss Sam Gemmell says that if his team can stamp out individual errors he’s hopeful of an upturn in their fortunes soon.

The visitors, with a vastly changed side from the previous week’s loss to Cambria, started off well and were causing the hosts some problems, Ross Jeffrey and David Allan going close with some early opportunities.

And the early Helensburgh pressure paid off after 10 minutes, when good work out on the right wing by Jamie Paterson saw him swing in a cross that fell kindly for Allan to find the net.

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The visitors were comfortable in possession, although the chances created slipped slightly, and this gave some confidence to the hosts – but although the home side tried to break them down, David Stevenson, debuting in goal for Helensburgh, was rarely troubled.

However with half an hour gone the home side struck back; from an innocuous ball played down the left wing, Gerraint Meader was caught on the wrong side of his man, allowing Westerlands’ winger to break free and find the net with a well-placed shot.

And worse was to come just before half time when more poor marking left the Westerlands forward time to run past some static defending to skip the ball past debut keeper David Stevenson.

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Burgh’s confidence was dealt another blow early in the second half when more slack play led to Westerlands increasing their lead.

But Helensburgh’s credit, they refused to throw in the towel and pressed forward to try and reduce the arrears, with Paterson, Johansson and Park all having attempts which were well saved by the home keeper.

And Jeffrey got one back when his sleight of foot outfoxed the Westerlands defence and won him enough time and space to shoot home.

But the visitors again shot themselves in the foot when Meader appealed for an offside decision that never came, giving the young Westerlands winger freedom to run in on goal and fire past Stevenson.

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Gemmell said afterwards: “It was a difficult one to accept as we were every bit as good as our opponents but individual errors cost us. However the effort was there and with a bit of luck we could have got something out of the game.

“It’s that effort we need to continue with, and if we can stamp out the errors, it won’t be long till we get on the right end of a result.”

Squad: David Stevenson, Ryan Jones, Daniel Johns, Conor Mackie, Gerraint Meader, Jamie Paterson, Calum Dodds, Karl Johansson, Derek Park, David Allan, Ross Jeffrey, Steven Martin, Fraser Makeham, James Rowe.

* This Saturday, November 9, Helensburgh put their league campaign to one side as they host Eaglesham in round two of the Bobby Thomson Challenge Cup, with a 2pm kick-off at Hermitage Academy.

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