Greggy: Underdog tag for Cairn is a bare-faced Lie...
IT RISKS a severe ear -bashing for any pundit to mention within earshot of Gartcairn manager David Greig that his Central Second Division sides are rated no-hopers in their Scottish Junior Cup fourth-round clash against Arthurlie.
Greggy states a good case in pointing out his club’s recent pedigree – they were one of last season’s beaten quarter finalists – along with home advantage allowing him to approach next weekend’s head-to-head with the Super Premier Division strugglers with a fair degree of confidence, however it says everything that bookmakers are already depicting Gartcairn as outright underdogs.
The seasoned Junior gaffer insisted: “People who don’t know the Junior game will be basing their opinion of us on our own recent form which shows we have lost back-to-back league games against Royal Albert and Carluke Rovers.
“I’m not going to pretend to be happy with results, but the onset of winter is always a tough period for clubs in terms of the availability of your best players for training and games, so I’ d like to think the month of December was a blip that we are now over.
“Yet another match postponement last week led to a friendly match being arranged against Rossvale and to run out 5-3 winners against higher-league opposition is not to be sniffed at, even though the lack of quality on show was evidence both teams looked ring rusty.
“Nevertheless it was a worthwhile exercise in getting legs stretched and hopefully the players will be more like themselves ahead of travelling through to face Johnstone Burgh.
“It’s a vital game as far as boosting morale goes, but it’s not to my liking that we do not know a great deal about the Burgh or their players because this is a potential banana skin in terms of our title ambitions and I would much rather win tomorrow than next week.
“Three teams go up from the Second Division and we must never lose sight of the fact that promotion has been our aim from the word go.”
Greggy has often said there is little to choose between sides in the top half of the Second Division and he struggles to name the teams he expects to make the step up come late May.
“Right now anyone from the league leaders St Anthony’s down to seventh-top Vale of Clyde are in with a shout and I’m just pleased to be in the mix after being beset with a horror run of injuries which had me struggling to fill the bench most weeks.
“First-season Junior players David Hepburn, Scott McEwan, Ross Easton and young James Leslie who has moved up from our Under-18 side have proved their worth in the bad times and they will improve as time moves on as they play more games alongside the experienced heads of Michael Williams, goalkeeper John Mullen and our captain Kevin Ross.
“I also have to praise the contribution made by former Hurlford United striker Ryan Donnelly, whom we only managed to bring on board because he stays less than a stone’s throw from our ground because it’s no exaggeration to say Ryan’s attitude and application has been second to none even though he has played at a significantly higher level.
“And one of these days I will be able to play him alongside our other marquee striker signing Gary Arbuckle but they are only a dream pairing in my head due to a bad injury restricting Gary to less than half our games to date.
“The good news is he is finally close to making a comeback, but his long lay-off has left him well short of match fitness and the Arthurlie game is coming far too soon for him unless we get hit with another month of postponements.
“Gary’s long absence led to us signing the former Cambuslang Rangers frontman Thomas ‘Deco’ Kilmartin, whose touch is sublime, however he is also needing game time and will probably feature against the Burgh despite being cup-tied and unavailable for the Arthurlie game.”
Greig moved to strengthen his selection options i n midweek by snapping up Cumnock’s transfer-listed winger Liam McLaughlin (brother of Partick Thistle ace Chris Erskine) and a good debut at Keanie Park could play him into contention for a starting jersey in the Cup tie.
The team boss admitted: “Liam wasn’t figuring in Peter Leonard’s plans, but he was highly enough regarded to be offered a playing contract with a Super Premier side, so it’s a real feather in our cap to get him here considering a few higher-league outfits were on his trail.”
LOOKING ahead to the Arthurlie game, Greggy said: “I’ve heard it said Arthurlie are a club in crisis, but no amount of bad press can take away their status as one of the elite-op dozen clubs in the West Region while we are fully three divisions down the pecking order
“Their squad includes players such as Colin Spence and Michael Daly who have been at the very top of the Junior tree and I’ve heard rave reports about their forward Marc McKenzie who was placed on the transfer list this week and I just hope he gets his wish for a move before Arthurlie come through here.”