Peterhead winger Conor O’Keefe has called on the Blue Toon to make the most of their festive fixtures to keep the pressure on League Two leaders Stenhousemuir.
O’Keefe was instrumental as the Balmoor men defeated basement side Clyde 2-1 to stay five points behind the Warriors with a game in hand.
Forfar and Elgin, who are both near the bottom of the table, are Peterhead’s next two opponents and O’Keefe is targeting maximum points before the end of the year.
O’Keefe said: “We hit our points target in the first quarter of the season and we have got a chance to better that in this quarter.
“We want to win the next few games. That is the aim.
“Stenhousemuir are doing really well and keep winning. We just need to keep hot on their heels and hopefully they slip up.
“Next week, we have Forfar at home and we will look to impose ourselves on the game. We are playing well on our pitch just now so we are looking forward to it.”
Peterhead were quick out of the traps to overcome Clyde with Jack Brown netting in the second minute before a sumptuous O’Keefe effort just after the half hour.
Clyde pulled a goal back late on which made for a nervy ending for the home team especially after Rory McAllister picked up a second yellow card for simulation.
O’Keefe continued: “In the first half, I thought we were excellent and it was probably one of our best performances this season.
“In the second half, we fell away a bit but it was great to contribute to the three points.”
Peterhead made all of the running in the first half and their two-goal cushion underlined their superiority.
O’Keefe’s delightful shot from the edge of the penalty area gave Jack Leighfield absolutely no chance and his strike put the hosts firmly in command after Brown had swooped to get on the end of McAllister’s knockdown.
It looked like the Blue Toon would coast to victory but when Euan Cameron saw his speculative 80th minute drive take a huge deflection off David Wilson and loop over the helpless Stuart McKenzie, Clyde were given late hope.
McAllister’s unnecessary dismissal in the closing stages only added to the home support’s concerns but Peterhead deservedly held on.
Joint player/manager Ryan Strachan said: “We are delighted to get the three points but it was a tale of two halves.
“In the first half, we were excellent and could have been out of sight but credit to Clyde because they made some changes which injected an energy into their team and they had a go.
“They scored from a wicked deflection which made for a dodgy last 10 minutes for us but in the end we are delighted with the win.
“The only downside was Rory getting sent off so he will miss a game but other than that, credit where it is due, in the first half I thought we were excellent.”
