Agony of play-off loss can inspire cup win
Bernard Coll stood in the middle of a sodden Central Park pitch with his head in his hands.
For a second, he dropped the guard but still he couldn’t bear to look. He quickly lifted his jersey to cover his face and one wonders if it was tears or raindrops he was wiping from his eyes as a deluge swept through.
East Kilbride’s promotion dream was washed away in the cruellest of manners after a penalty shootout…
Cowdenbeath the authors of his pain.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get over that,” says the Kilby left-back. “I’ve never felt so gutted.
“I remember I had the shirt up to my face but I wasn’t crying.
“It was just the realisation setting in that after all the hard work that season, winning the league and getting to the playoffs, it all came down to one kick. “I couldn’t believe it. “I was gutted for everyone at the club and really gutted for all
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much “Everyonein and we obviouslywere a penaltyput so shootout away from getting promotion. I just felt pure dejection.”
All he wanted to do was get out of Fife and forget all about it – but he revealed there was no quick exit.
“Right after I came off the pitch I got drug tested with Sean Winter,” he said.
“I was desperate to get my stuff and head up the road but we were in there for 45 minutes. “That just made it worse.” This weekend those painful memories will be revisited as Kilby head back to the scene of last season’s heartbreak.
Cowdenbeath will play host to Kilby once again – this time in the second round of the Scottish Cup.
There have been changes in both dugouts since that tie in May with Billy Stark replacing Martin Lauchlan and Billy Brown stepping up from assistant manager to replace Gary Locke in the Blue Brazil hot-seat.
Last season the sides also met at the same stage of the Scottish Cup, when a Joao Victoria header gave 10-man Kilby a 1-0 victory.
So despite Cowden prevailing in the penalty shootout, Kilby remain unbeaten against the Fifers in regulation play.
And that gives Coll a lot of confidence for their fourth meeting in the space of a year.
“The boys know from those games that we can compete with them,” the 23-year-old insisted.
“We will have no fear facing them again.
“The play-off was gutting but what it does do is spur us on.
“The bad memories of that day will drive us on and hopefully it helps us get the win.
“When we played them in the cup last year I was injured but we thoroughly deserved the win.
“We were comfortable, even with 10-men, and in the play-offs games it was really close, so we believe we can get a result.”
So far this season EK have had mixed results against SPFL sides, suffering heavy defeats to Hamilton Accies and Albion Rovers, while beating Queen of the South on penalties (after a 0-0 draw) and defeating Stenhousemuir, all in the Betfred Cup.
Coll said: “It just shows you we are capable at this level.
“Look at how well Stenny are doing (second in League Two) and we played really well against them. We’ll take a lot of confidence from that.
“We are hoping for a good cup run.
“I played against Celtic a couple of years ago and that was amazing.
“Nothing will ever beat that but if we get through this, the bigger teams start to come into it and it would be good to test ourselves against a League One or Championship team if we can get through.”
Coll has been a mainstay in his favoured left-back role in the Kilby defence this season, playing in all but one of their 17 matches.
And he added: “It’s been a good season for me personally.
“Last season I was going between centre-midfield and left-back with Barry (Russell) sometimes switching into midfield.
“I didn’t play against Hamilton, but apart from that I’ve always been at left-back under Billy (Stark) and I’m enjoying it.
“I feel a lot fitter and I want to keep performing well to repay the manager for the faith he’s shown in me.”