ABERDOUR continued their promotion push in shinty's South Division One with a narrow win over Oban Celtic on Saturday.

The South of Scotland Plate winners played their first league match since their historic trophy win against Strachur and early goals from David MacKenzie and Angus Thorburn appeared to have the home side on easy street.

David Hill pulled a goal back for the visitors and although coach Lisa Norman admitted that the performance, which also included a missed Thorburn penalty that crashed off the crossbar, was not a vintage one, she was happy that they ground out a victory.

She told Press Sport, "It was one of those games where we didn't have the greatest performance but the playing conditions were difficult. The pitch has been dry and with a little drizzle, it was greasy and ran fast so it took both teams a while to adjust.

"But we created chances before David and Angus got the goals. They crept back into it and gave us a bit of a fright but you can't play at your best all the time. It's great for the team that they can still win games even if they're not playing well.

"We'll take the win and it leaves us sitting in joint second. We're a point behind Lochside who have played 11 games but we've only played eight, so I'm comfortable with the position we are in.

"There are a few teams who will play this weekend while we have a free one, but I am comfortable with the fact we have games in hand." She added, "We had a couple of players injured and having risen to the challenge to win the plate final, especially have come back in the second half, going back to playing a league game is not at the same height. Cup runs make a big difference in extending the season, and we did OK on Saturday with the players we had available." 'Dour's first team are not in action until 26th July but the seconds take on Col Glen at Silver Sands this Saturday in a South Division Two fixture. Throw-up is at 2.30pm.