IRVINE Meadow co-boss Colin Spence says his side need to start burying their chances in a “cutthroat” WoSFL Premier League.

The Medda returned to competitive action on Saturday, July 30, and had no chance to ease themselves in, with an opening day derby at home to Kilwinning Rangers.

It ended in a 3-1 victory for the Buffs, and Spence said his side “weren’t at our best” but that they still had the chances to take something from the game.

David Gormley’s side grabbed the initiative early on, when the ball fell to Mark Millar in the corner. The ex-Celtic man cut inside, drove into the box and dispatched a left footed shot beyond Marc Waters at the Meadow ‘keeper’s near post.

It was a goal Spence said was “very avoidable” adding that “every single wee mistake seems to be getting punished”, at the moment.

Medda went in one down at half time, though quickly levelled at the beginning of the second half as Callum Graham showed great strength to hold off the Buff’s centre backs, and dispatch beyond Craig Gordon after a Keir Milliken flick on.

Though Kilwinning regained their lead, as Paul Byrne couldn’t get enough on the ball as he tried to clear a low driven corner. The ball fell to Thomas Collins, who coolly slotted home his first of the afternoon.

Medda would go onto miss one on one chances and twice from six yards with the goal at their mercy, before the Buffs made them pay.

It was Thomas Collins again who did the damage, as he stretched to turn in Mark Lamont’s square pass.

There was still time for one more incident, as Paul Hale saw red for the Buffs, scything down a Medda trialist as the bared down on goal. From the resulting free-kick, Gordon recovered well to deny the Medda, after spilling the initial effort.

Irvine Meadow co-boss Colin Spence told the Times: “We were probably, for long parts of the game, second best, but I also contradict myself by saying we missed some unbelievable chances.

“It’s a game where we weren’t at our best, but a game where probably, we should have still taken something.

“It’s been a bit of a theme pre-season, where we’ve been missing chances, it’s something we really have to start doing, it’s a cutthroat league.”