MUIRKIRK Juniors boss Ross Cusick says that his side's perfect start to the league season was almost "unthinkable".
The Burnside Park club made it six wins out of six with a hard-fought 1-0 win at home to Kilsyth Rangers on Saturday.
William Dawson scored the only goal of the match as the Kirk made it 18 points out of a possible 18, giving them a healthy five point lead atop the West of Scotland Football League Second Division table.
And after the victory, which included his team's third clean sheet of the season, Cusick believes his side have shown they have the credentials to remain there as the campaign develops.
He commented: “I think it’s ourselves and Yoker who share the best defensive record in the league.
“That was something that was a key point for us this year to address, because generally speaking, the teams that do best in this division aren’t necessarily the most attack-minded.
“It’s the teams that are the most steady and robust, and it's so far so good on that front.”
Cusick's aim at the start of the campaign was to see the club compete towards the top of the table, though the manager admitted that Kirk's 100 per cent record from the first month of the campaign is beyond what he, or anyone else at Burnside Park, imagined.
Saturday's win over Kilsyth followed victories against Bellshill, Lanark, Bonnyton Thistle, Craigmark and Lesmahagow in the opening weeks of the season.
"I like to think we are quite positive people," Cusick said.
"We were confident we could compete at the top end of the division, but I don’t think we saw ourselves winning the first six games.
“They were tricky games as well. It’s not been an easy run we’ve had.
“It’s been far from easy, but we just seem to be coming up with the answers at the minute.
“We’re not blowing anyone away. Every point we’ve had, we’ve had to graft for. But when it’s going for you, it’s going for you.”
And the Burnside Park boss is keen to keep riding the wave as long as they can - and feels the best may still be to come.
“I genuinely feel there is a lot more to come in terms of performances from the team," he added.
“At the minute we are battling away and we are getting our rewards from that, but now we are into the bit of the season that I like, where it’s steady with training and games on Saturday.
“You get into a routine, and that’s where you start to play your best football, because you get more time on the training park and more recovery. There’s more to come.”
Cusick is realistic enough to know that that 100 per cent record won't last forever, though - and says that will present his team with their biggest test yet.
"It will be really key when that first defeat comes, how we react to that," he added.
“The best teams generally don’t loose two or three on the bounce.
“Inevitably it will come. We don’t want it to come, but it will eventually, and we need to respond in the right way to that.”
Next up for the Kirk is a trip to Glasgow to face St Anthony's on August 31, with a 2pm kick-off at McKenna Park.
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