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What went wrong at Kelty Hearts earlier in the season and what’s behind their recent form?

Kelty boss John Potter. Image: SNS.
Kelty boss John Potter. Image: SNS.

After a challenging start to the campaign Kelty Hearts have won five of their last seven in Scottish League 1.

At no point did it seem like there was any pressure on manager John Potter, who in turn has persisted with the 4-3-3 he started the season with.

There has been plenty of disruption to contend with but the Maroon Machine has found a consistency in recent weeks that has seen them start to rise up the league.

Ahead of the second West Fife derby of the season this weekend, Courier Sport looks at the turnaround at New Central Park.

What was going wrong?

In a nutshell: not taking chances when they were on top in the first half of matches and conceding cheap goals in the second half.

Goals were conceded via balls from the opposition half in four of their first five league matches.

Rory McAllister’s goal for Montrose:

 

Added to this, Kelty have conceded 12 of their 18 league goals in the second half of matches.

The trend was that Potter’s side would dominate early but not take the lead.

When they did get their first victory Courier Sport wrote at the time that it was not necessarily a surprise.

Recent form

Since then there have been wins over Airdrie, Queen of the South and, most recently, away to Falkirk – their first points on the road this season.

A defeat away to FC Edinburgh is the only dropped points in the last 15 available.

It has seen Kelty rise from second bottom of the league – joint on points at the time with 10th-placed Peterhead – to seventh.

They are five points behind Montrose and Falkirk who in third and fourth respectively.

Over the last six games John Potter’s are one of League 1’s two form sides, matching that of FC Edinburgh.

Kelty are second in the form table for the last six matches. Screenshot: soccerstats.com

Squad disruption

As with many others, Potter found the summer transfer window tough but has now managed to put together a decent-looking squad.

There have still been injury issues, most acutely felt in attack.

The only proven No 9 Nathan Austin has been out injured for large spells already but Kallum Higginbotham has deputised well.

Kallum Higginbotham in action versus Falkirk.

Injuries to the defence have been ongoing.

In the last seven League 1 matches Kelty have been forced to make seven in-game substitutions due to an injury to a defender.

Lewis Martin has played all four positions across the back four and, in the league alone, Kelty have started with eight different back-four combinations.

What has changed?

In a nutshell: they’ve cut out the silly errors, added well to their squad and persisted with a system which is now working for them.

Cammy Logan and Scott McGill have been good loan additions from Heart of Midlothian and Darren Lyon has improved the midfield.

The signing of Nicky Low further improved the midfield and Jason Thomson has strengthened the defence.

Agyeman is on a hot streak of form right now and is a handful for most when he gets going.

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