BRIAN CAMERON and Ryan Jones were the men on target as Helensburgh FC extended their unbeaten League Cup run with a 2-1 win away to Rannoch on Saturday.

Burgh at first looked to have suffered no ill-effects from their two-week break, with Brooks Tadlock forcing the Rannoch keeper into a fine early save, but the visitors’ bright start soon faded and only brave goalkeeping from O’Brien kept the score level when he raced from his line to block a Rannoch forward, receiving a blow to the jaw for his trouble.

Helensburgh weathered the storm sufficiently to reach half-time with the score 0-0, but manager Sam Gemmell shuffled his pack at the interval in the hope that a change in approach might just allow the team to regain control of the tie.

And the half-time changes soon began to take effect for Helensburgh, and Jeffries came close with a shot which was blocked by Rannoch’s keeper after a good run forward.

It was another good run from Jeffries that created the opening goal, skipping round the back of the defence only to be bundled over in the box for a penalty which Cameron slammed home.

But Rannoch soon levelled after O’Brien picked up a sliced attempted clearance, with the referee awarding a free kick for a passback and the hosts drawing level after the resulting goalmouth scramble.

Once again Helensburgh found themselves under aerial bombardment from the Rannoch keeper, but poor finishing from the hosts’ front line kept the scores level.

And with seven minutes left Burgh secured the winner with the first bit of decent football in the whole game.

Cameron broke up an attack and drove forward with the ball before passing to Johansson, and Cameron continued his run to pick up the return pass before crossing into the box – and though Tadlock’s shot was blocked by the Rannoch keeper, Jones fired the rebound into the net.

Manager Sam Gemmell said: “We had a disappointing couple of results before the break so hopefully this win and the grit the boys showed will get us back on track as we have some important games coming up in the next few weeks.”

Squad: O’Brien, Connolly, Cameron, Johns, Makeham, Park, Johannsson, Findlay, Bailey, Jeffries, Tadlock, Martin, Jones.

* Helensburgh sealed their progress to the League Cup quarter-finals with a 3-0 win away to Westcliff on Wednesday night.