Elgin City pick up first League 2 win of season as Kane Hester hat-trick sees off Albion Rovers
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KANE Hester was Elgin City’s hat-trick hero to earn his team a first League 2 win of the season.
The striker added to his midweek double against Hibs B with some deadly finishing in the 3-0 success at home to Albion Rovers.
Elgin boss Gavin Price stuck with Tom McHale in goal - he played at Hibs B in midweek - and handed a debut to new loan signing from Dundee United, Nathan Cooney at right back.
Albion lined up with four ex-City players in James McGowan, Callum Wilson, Scott Roberts and Declan Byrne.
Albion had an early chance when a heavy Rory MacEwan touch gave possession away and Byrne broke before feeding Kyle Doherty who was poised to shoot when MacEwan got back to make a superb recovering tackle.
Byrne then had a header deflected over from a Scott Roberts corner as Rovers made a decent start.
But it was Elgin who drew first blood on 16 minutes when Euan Spark fed Hester, who turned his man superbly and fired in a shot which was deflected past keeper Cammy Binnie.
City put together a good spell of pressure culminating in a second goal on 22 minutes.
MacEwan slipped a great pass through the centre and Hester’s pace took him clear to slip the ball wide of Binnie for his fourth goal of the week.
Hester’s double whammy affected Rovers’ discipline, with centre backs Aldin El-Zubaidi and McGowan booked in quick succession for disputing an Elgin free kick.
Brian Cameron fired wide from the edge of the box after a Tony Dingwall corner came into his path on the half hour mark.
Elgin were in full flow at this stage and Hester twice missed opportunities to complete a first half treble.
A left foot effort curled wide and when Tony Dingwall picked the striker out in front of goal on 35 minutes, Binnie made a block and recovered to grab the ball before it crossed the line.
There was a warning shot for City from a Roberts corner on 37 minutes with McGowan presented with a free header which narrowly missed the target.
Four minutes later an attempted clearance by MacEwan near the edge of his own box cannoned off an opponent and fell to Byrne whose fierce drive was superbly parried by McHale.
Elgin quickly broke through the lively Conor O’Keefe and when Albion didn’t properly clear, Cooney crossed and Cameron volleyed with the ball looping up for Hester to head straight at the keeper.
The second half opened in explosive fashion for Elgin when that man Hester completed his hat-trick, bolting through the offside trap on to a Cameron through ball to clinically slip the ball past the advancing Binnie.
The same combination unlocked the Albion defence again on 59 minutes but this time Hester was thwarted by a sliding Sean Fagan tackle as he lined up his shot.
Six minutes later O’Keefe produced a fine run on the left and cut back for Tony Dingwall, whose netbound shot took a deflection and flew just over.
City also kept their first clean sheet of the season with McHale seldom troubled - a comfortable win for the Black and Whites.
Elgin: McHale, Cooney, Spark, McHardy, Little, MacEwan (Macphee 60), R Dingwall, Cameron (Mailer 74), Hester (Allen 83), T Dingwall (Peters 74), O’Keefe (Sopel 83).
Subs: Lawrence, MacBeath,Nicolson, Hoban.
Albion: Binnie, Lynas, Leslie, El Zubaidi (Robinson 62), McGowan (Fagan 52), C Wilson, Roberts, D Wilson, Doherty (Stevenson 52), Byrne, L Wilson (Dolan 52).
Subs: Smith.
Referee: Steven Reid
Att: 488
