Mike collapse reality check for Kilwinning
THERE was never any chance of Kilwinning Rangers team boss Chris Strain being fazed by the prospect of leading his side down to Beechwood Park for last night’s Sectional League Cup semi-final clash with Auchinleck Talbot.
He’s been through more as recently as last Saturday afternoon when his side’s surprise 2-0 Premiership demise at home to Clydebank was followed by 21-year-old midfield ace Michael Wardrope sensationally collapsing and being rendered unconscious on the floor of the bar area at Abbey Park for what seemed an eternity according to Strain .
He insisted: “I remember walking off the pitch and thinking the result was a bit of a setback for us but football became the furthest thing from my mind once I seen Michael and the condition he was in.
“He didn’t breathe for fully two minutes despite the best efforts of people to administer CPR to him and because there was no response, I really thought he was gone and could feel the colour draining from my face.
“It was so hard seeing Michael lying there like that and to make matters worse his mum and dad were at the game and were understandably very upset themselves so words cannot describe the elation felt by one and all when Michael let out a gasp and started to show signs of coming round.
“He was whisked away to Crosshouse Hospital where a thorough examination by doctors diagnosed a blood sugar deficiency as the root cause of his collapse and I think it beggars belief that he was then given the all-clear to go home.
“He doesn’t remember a thing about the incident and it’s just typical of his up and at them attitude that he now wants to be included for the game against Auchinleck however I need to seek advice and know he is not going to suffer any relapse before he gets a jersey.”
“You know the game pales into utter insignificance at times like Saturday because I have already put the experience down as one of the worst moments of my life let alone my football career and I don’t want to go through anything like it ever again.”
Kilwinning Rangers made the worst possible start in last night’s semi-final encounter when finding themselves trailing to a Gareth Armstrong score for Auchinleck with just five minutes on the clock.
The visitors recovered and got back on level terms through a Ben Lewis goal midway through the first half however they were to fall behind again when the in-form Mark Shankland scored just after the hour mark and the home side comfortably saw out the game to clinch a 2-1 victory and a place in the final where their opponents will be shock troops Lesmahagow who ran out 3-1 winners over Petershill at Craighead Park.
Three goals inside a seven-minute spell approaching the half-hour mark, Jonny McStay netting goals either side of a counter from strike partner Scott Falconer had the Gow 3-0 in relative easy street and they held out despite a Peasy second-half comeback that brought what amounted to little more than a consolation score from a Ryan Deas penalty-kick conversion some 20 minutes from time.