New-look Airdrie in seventh heaven

A brace from Darryl Duffy helped Airdrie to a 7-0 win in the opening fixture of their pre-season schedule.

The Diamonds thumped Lowland League side Gala Fairydean Rovers in a match which saw five players make their debut for the club.

Scott Robertson, Jonathan Page, Grant Gallagher, Kieran Miller and Joao Victoria all crossed the white line, while Scott Gallacher and Sean Crighton joined Duffy in making their returns after previous spells.

Airdrie dominated the match from the first whistle and broke the deadlock midway through the first half through Victoria as the striker buried Scott Stewart’s low cross.

A cross led to Airdrie’s second goal too when Ryan Conroy’s corner kick was nodded home by Duffy.

Stewart made it three on the stroke of half-time when he cut into the box before curling a shot into the net with the outside of his boot.

Airdrie introduced some of their younger players for the second half and removed some of their more experienced players from the fray.

There was no respite for Gala, however, as Duffy got his second and Airdrie’s fourth only 10 minutes into the second period.

The experienced striker managed to get on the end of Chris O’Neill’s ball to sidefoot home from close range.

Cammy Russell made an impact off the bench when he finished powerfully in the 67th minute after a lovely piece of control in the box.

Fellow substitutes Scott Thomson and Craig Truesdale got in on the act too as the game entered its final stages.

Thomson had previously come close to scoring on two ocassions after coming off the bench in the 69th minute.

But he finally got his goal with five minutes to play when he found himself one-on-one and chipped the onrushing Gala keeper.

Truesdale then completed the scoring in injury time.