DOOL’S GOLD
Jags star’s success story all began at Rovers
NITHSIDE PARK, Kelloholm – a classic, if underwhelming, junior football ground. Kello’s higgledy-piggledy wee home might seem a million miles from Firhill – but Partick Thistle fans might want to give a nod of appreciation to the unfashionable Rovers.
For it was at Nithside, as a scrawny teen, where Thistle’s newly-crowned centurion Kris Doolan cut his teeth over a decade ago.
I don’t support Thistle but few could have been happier than I was to see Doolan smack home his 100th – and soon after 101st – goal for the Jags last weekend.
The striker’s rise from juniors’ goal getter to Jags legend is one of the most satisfying stories to come out of our grade.
Doolan has the Jags faithful droolin’ these days and it’s a success story that all began in the Ayrshire District League.
Twelve years ago in a pre-season friendly he ran my defenders at Dalbeattie Star ragged on Nithside’s surface which is tighter than an Aberdeen credit crunch.
Doolan still managed to find an extra yard of turf to exploit his explosive pace and it was no surprise when the big boys at Auchinleck Talbot snapped him up.
The goals flowed, junior international caps arrived and within two years the Ayrshireman was given his big chance in full-time football by Ian McCall at Thistle.
Eight years on, Doolan and Jags pal Chris Erskine, from Kilbirnie Ladeside, are just two examples of what can be had if top sides are brave enough to take a chance with the gems coming through our ranks. Let’s hope they’re not the last.