Murdie can’t wait for chance to knock Hurlford off perch
POLLOK No 2 Murdie McKinnon is relishing the visit of runaway league leaders Hurlford United to Newlandsfield this Saturday for a showdown he believes neutral Junior fans should be queuing up to see.
The Ayrshiremen will make the journey through boasting a phenomenal 10 wins from their opening 10 league matches and careering towards the inaugural Premiership honours however seasoned coach McKinnon is convinced Pollok have it in them to put a first spoke in their title charge.
Left in charge of preparations this week because Lok gaffer Tony McInally has work commitments, Murdie insisted: “Take nothing away from Hurlford and their quite remarkable start to the season but I’ve been in their shoes and it is after all only a start as I’m pretty sure Darren Henderson will be stressing over and over again to his players.
“I was assistant to Stevie Rankin at Irvine Meadow when we got away to a similar winning burst of games and had everyone tipping us as champions elect but we were not the ones to get over the line come the end of May.
“Being top of the pile with every other team pulling out all the stops to try and knock you off your pedestal brings added pressure week to week and as Medda found out to our cost, the simplest of blips can lead to an entire avalanche of things going wrong.
“Hurlford are going to take a fall at some point and I believe Pollok are one of the few teams capable of stopping them in their tracks – as I’m sure Darren does as well – so Saturday’s game promises to be a cracker.”
Pollok front man Stuart McCann is still only 21 but McKinnon, who also coached him at Meadow Park, believes he could be the man to bring Hurlford down.
He said: “Just about every other Premiership side has an experienced leader of the line but Tony has given Stuart his head and he is thriving on the responsibility.
“His direct running style and willingness to go in where it hurts is showing him to be as much of a handful for defenders as the big Hurlford front man Ross Robertson.
“Stuart is as quick off the mark as his older brother Gary and adding Shaun Fraser to the mix gives us a dynamic hub which is the envy of most teams and maybe explains why we are stringing a few decent results together.”