TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO Friday July 21, 1995
A tooth and nail battle
Campbeltown Pupils AFC manager Alex McKinven looks back at the highs and lows of his side’s season.
This season past will be regarded as the closest fought Premier League campaign on record. With little to choose between most of the sides, the battle still raged on to the very last day of the season.
St Patrick’s from Dumbarton once more proved to be the strongest outfit, securing the championship from a much improved Fernhill Villa, with East Kilbride YMCA a close third.
The real drama, however, was the enthralling battle between no fewer than nine league clubs who fought tooth and nail to avoid the drop, with the local Pupils having the added headache of completing seven fixtures in the last four weekends.
The crucial matches for the local favourites were against the two leading sides, St Pat’s and Fernhill, both matches coming with only one day’s respite separating both fixtures.
On the Saturday, all looked lost against Fernhill, the Pupils trailing by two goals to nil against a side playing at the top of their form and looking certain to clinch both points.
Suddenly it was all to change. The Pupils came back from the edge to score three times in the last 15 minutes to record an astounding victory.
It was then on to Dumbarton and with the adrenalin still coursing through the veins, the Pupils were within an ace of recording a famous victory, but in the end had to settle for a creditable draw.
The final Saturday of the season as a nailbiting affair with Hamilton on 29 points, Cumbernauld on 19 and Gourock Athletic on 17 – the only clear cut situation being that Dalmarnock, with only 14 points, were definitely going to be relegated.
Although shielded by a better goal difference, the Pupils realised that an eleventh hour disaster could still see them take the plunge.
They travelled to Camphill with a steely determination and never looked like being second best, running out winners by two goals to one and in the process they were able to steer themselves to a mid table position. In the end Gourock Athletic went down.