It’s been a great year but we must push on
Lauchlan on season so far
They’ve broken Ajax’s world record, knocked Cowdenbeath out of the Scottish Cup with 10-men and currently hold a 10-point lead at the top of the Lowland League.
But ask East Kilbride boss Martin Lauchlan what he makes of his side’s season so far and he’ll tell you: “We have achieved nothing yet.”
It’s been an incredible 2016 for Kilby with a Scottish Cup last 16 clash against Celtic in February and the club breaking Ajax’s world record for consecutive wins in November bookending an unforgettable year.
The scenes as EK took on the Scottish champions and as they received a special presentation of beer from Ajax will take some beating.
Lauchlan arrived in March, losing his first game 2-1 to Whitehill Welfare, and led the team to a 30-game winning streak that was ended in a 1-0 defeat to Spartans on November 19.
This current season began on July 30 and now, at the halfway point, East Kilbride have lost just twice in 26 games across all competitions, with Stranraer providing the latest loss (2-1) on December 3 in the Scottish Cup third round.
“What’s happened so far this season has been beyond my wildest dreams, but what I would say is we haven’t achieved anything yet,” said Lauchlan.
“We’ve got to the halfway point and done really well, but now it’s about kicking on to get us to the next level.
“The Ajax experience was brilliant and a touch of class, something that will stay with me forever. The players deserved it because to win 30-games in a row level is some achievement.
“The first part of the season couldn’t have gone much better and the players have been outstanding. Looking back at the game with Stranraer, we should have beaten them.
“We had three big chances to score when we were 1-0 up and kill the game off, but we didn’t take them, made a couple of mistakes and lost the game. We gave a good account of ourselves and it at any shows how far we’ve come that we beat Cowdenbeath in the previous round against the odds and played so well at Stranraer. “In terms of our expectations at the start of the season, I don’t think it could have gone much better.” Lauchlan brought in 10 new players over the summer, but they gelled so quickly the side have been top of the table from day one. He added: “Having changed things so much from last season and starting as well as we did, you have to give great credit to the players for our consistency. “A lot of the players I brought in had a point to prove and I think it’s worked for us, they’ve proved they are really good players. “I think about Fabio Capuano, who came in after leaving Clyde, and there’s not a better right back in the league. Kieran Gibbons came in from Livingston and I don’t think you’ll find a better centre midfielder up to League One. “But Adam Strachan has been the best player in the league by a mile. “His off the field issues when we signed him were well documented, but in terms of his performances for us he’s been fantastic. “I still think he has a bit to go because he should be scoring more goals, but he brings energy, pace, the ability to unlock defences and he’s a great character in the dressing room. He’s one of the most professional players about.” East Kilbride have 13 matches of the Lowland League season remaining and the curtain will fall on their memorable 2016 this Friday evening when they host Cumbernauld Colts in their final game of the year. There’s a 10-point gap between Lauchlan’s side and rivals East Stirling in the league standings and he said: “This is a very testing time. “I think it was Sir Alex Ferguson who said the festive period is the most important part of a season, so it’s about making as fast a start to the new year as we did at the start of the season. We always get a tough test against Colts, but I look to my own team and I’m confident that we’ll keep our levels up going into the rest of the season.”