Thorn Athletic make solid start to new campaign
Thorn Athletic made it two out of two to kick-off their Caledonian Premier League campaign.
Goals from new captain Ryan Crawford and midfielder Jack Doak secured a vital 2-0 away win over Martin Lauchlan’s Strathclyde University side.
And then a quick-fire hat-trick from new signing Connar McGregor – in a makeshift striker role – was enough to see off Glasgow rivals Broomhouse 3-1 at the weekend.
The Johnstone side have been beset with injury problems since the start of the season with striker Craig McMahon, winger Jamie White and midfielder John Hay all sidelined with various knocks and strains.
Manager James Donnelly has had to shuffle his pack after a disappointing opening League Cup campaign where they failed to qualify from the group section after a narrow 1-0 defeat by reigning Premier champs Dalziel left them unable to progress.
As they prepare to head into forthcoming West of Scotland Cup and Scottish Cup ties, they will be hoping to get everyone back to full fitness.
Glasgow outfit Stedfast await in the second round of the West while a trip to Moodiesburn to face Saturday morning side Bridgend awaits in the second round of the Scottish.
Boss Donnelly aims to strengthen his squad over the coming weeks as they knuckle down for the winter months.
He said:“We are playing a bit of catch-up in the league already but it’s good to get off to a winning start. We’ve been limited numbers wise but we have good quality throughout a small squad.
“We need everyone training twice a week from now until the Christmas break so we can do ourselves justice in all the competitions.”