FAIRWAY TO HEAVEN
Gleneagles in view if top flight teed up
INVERNESS CT v ARBROATH PREMIERSHIP SEMI 1ST LEG TONIGHT, 7.05PM, BBC SCOTLAND
JAMES CRAIGEN quipped there’s a Gleneagles tee time with his name on it if he can help Arbroath reach the Premiership promised land – courtesy of a Dick Campbell motivational masterclass. The experienced midfielder has been in the play-offs with Raith, Falkirk and Dunfermline, only for every occasion to end in heartbreak. The 31-year-old is hoping the tide will turn when the Red Lichties kick off their promotion fight away to Inverness tonight. Craigen initially joined Arbroath on loan from Hyde before moving to Gayfield permanently in 2020. And he admitted the side were more concerned about going down than up. Craigen said: “When I signed for Arbroath there was a relegation clause. I said to Dick, ‘What happens if we go up?’. “He started laughing and told me nobody had ever asked him about that! He then joked and said he would take me for a game of golf at Gleneagles.
“I had been on loan at Arbroath and although the season was curtailed by Covid, I knew we had quality within our squad.
“So when Dick asked me to sign on a permanent basis, I was confident we would stay up and do well in the Championship.
“We stayed up last season and then we have kicked on this season. We’ve always been hard to beat but this season we have added more goals at the other end of the pitch.”
Campbell’s side pushed champs Kilmarnock all the way in the title race and have since regrouped with the club now ready to go again.
Craigen said: “I’m looking forward to it. It is good to be involved in these games. I have a bit of history in the play-offs with different teams.
“I did win the league at Partick Thistle but I have lost in the play-offs with Raith, Falkirk and Dunfermline.
“My record hasn’t been great in the play-offs, so it would be good if I could get a positive outcome this season.”
The part-timers have ripped up the form book in the Championship, winning as many plaudits as points for their brilliant campaign.
Craigen added: “We have a great group of lads. We’ve had a great season. We had the disappointment of losing at Kilmarnock a couple of weeks ago and that is long gone now.
“We’re now all looking forward and we will be up for the Inverness game. I scored the goal and we were 12 minutes or so from winning that game and going top of the league. It wasn’t to be.”