Rory MacEwan insists Elgin City cannot afford to take winless Clyde lightly – just a week after they scored their own first victory of the League Two season.
The 25-year-old midfielder was thrilled to help the Black and Whites notch an impressive 2-0 home win over a Dumbarton side who would have gone top by avoiding defeat in Moray.
It was new boss Barry Smith’s first league game in charge of Elgin, one week after making his dugout debut in the 2-1 SPFL Trust Trophy defeat at Championship Morton.
This weekend, Elgin hit the road to New Douglas Park to face Brian McLean’s Bully Wee, who are two points adrift of Forfar Athletic in 10th position.
McLean, who replaced Jim Duffy over the summer, has endured a tough start, with just two points banked from Clyde’s first six games.
Strong display needed for second Elgin City win
Elgin City’s Rory MacEwan is confident, but wary as he approaches this weekend’s away day.
He said: “If you have a bad day in this league, any team can punish you. We need to be at it again when we play Clyde if we are to get three points.
“If you can put a run of four or five unbeaten games together, you can really climb the table. That takes you right in amongst the play-off positions and it then becomes a matter of trying to stay there.
“These next few games are important for us as we try to build a bit of momentum. If we can do that, we will shoot up the table in no time.”
Clean sheet was boost against Sons
Goals from Ross County loanee Connall Ewan and Aberdeen loan forward Liam Harvey earned three precious points against Dumbarton.
And former Stirling University player MacEwan was proud that were also able to dig deep to shut out their visitors in a challenging encounter.
He said: “It was a bit of a relief to get that first win.
“Dumbarton are a strong side, who recruited well over the summer. They have lots of players who have played at higher levels as well.
“Even on the bench, they had the quality to come on and make an impact. We did well to see the game out with a clean sheet.”
We’ve got our first win of the SPFL League Two season.
Elgin City 2-0 Dumbarton pic.twitter.com/scANrHO1C3
— Elgin City F.C. (@ElginCityFC) September 16, 2023
Fans lifted by winning performance
MacEwan sensed a real boost in the atmosphere at Borough Briggs as soon as Harvey doubled the scoreline in the second half.
He said: “You could feel in the second half on Saturday, once we went 2-0 up, the crowd responded more to us and we probably responded more to the crowd.
“It makes the whole experience more enjoyable. When you start winning games, the home crowds get bigger. There is a knock-on effect, so hopefully we can get some more wins and build from there.
Players responding to new manager
MacEwan, who has played 12 times already this season, says he’s already seeing the initial training ground work under new boss Smith pay off on matchdays.
He added: “There has been a really good response from everyone since the new manager has come in.
“Every Thursday, we’re working on our defensive and attacking shape going into the weekend and the boys are taking it all on board.
“You could see that already working on Saturday and being taken into the game. Apart from one clear-cut chance, they didn’t really test Tom (McHale) in goal. We had a really good shape defensively.”
Elgin City: Harvey’s goals impress Rory MacEwan
Dons hit-man Harvey, 18, has netted two weeks running – scoring in the 2-1 SPFL Trust Trophy loss to Morton, as well as against the Sons.
MacEwan is sure the starlet will be boosted by his strikes.
He said: “It has been two good finishes from Liam over the past fortnight.
“You can see his confidence is clearly growing. Hopefully he can kick on and score more good goals for us.”
