Young guns going nowhere, as golden oldie keeps Gow in cup
ROBERT IRVING says Lesmahagow are determined to hang on to their best players as they bid for Sectional League Cup glory.
The team boss was speaking in the wake of Monday’s dramatic 3-0 penalty shootout win over higher league East Kilbride Thistle that followed a 1-1 regulation time draw and secured the Gow a home semi-final tilt against Petershill next Wednesday night – kick off 6.30pm.
The Jags had led 1-0 through a close range Paul Byrne strike but the League Two side levelled through a composed Ryan Innes finish and held their nerve in the shoot-out to score their first three attempts, while East Kilbride hit woodwork either side of veteran goalkeeper Alan Colquhoun saving Waleed Nadeem’s lame shot.
“It is indeed the one and the same Alan Colquhoun who appears to have been around the Juniors forever but that’s only to be expected given he is fast coming up on his 48th birthday.” admitted the seasoned Irving. “The big man has the enthusiasm of players half his age and he’s been absolutely brilliant since coming out of retirement to play.
“He’s a great talker as you might expect from someone of his experience and is always chirping away at our defenders to keep them on their toes, so you can sense they’ve every confidence in him.
“The feeling filters through to me as well because it certainly wasn’t one of our best performances at the Show Park yet I fancied us strongly to get through once penalty kicks were called for.”
At the opposite end of the spectrum, Irving believes a couple of first-season Juniors are playing pivotal roles in the Gow resurgence.
He insisted: We snapped up five players from Larkhall Thistle over the summer including our former striker Jonny McStay, and their nous has been a godsend to our young midfield pair Gary Nicholson [ex-Motherwell Thistle] and Kyle Weir [Carluke Hearts].
“Their performances have been absolutely pivotal to our decent start to the season and they look to have great futures in the game which is why we are not entertaining any clubs interested in them.
“We want to build a strong Gow team to bring back good times, and that means keeping hold of our best assets.”