Rossshares cupglory
Ross Gunnion fired Jeanfield Swifts into the next round of the Scottish Junior Cup - but instead heaped praise on his players.
The Perth manager, also a central defender, netted a second half winner to down Ayrshire side Whitletts Victoria 2-1 on Saturday.
Gunnion was not interested in taking the plaudits and was only concerned about advancing beyond the second stage of the competition.
“Getting a winning goal in a Scottish Cup tie is always nice but my only concern was us staying in the competition,” he said.
“Whoever scores the goals is not important to me.
“Credit would have to go to Lee Deans for keeping a semi-cleared corner alive. He picked out a fantastic chipped pass and all I had to do was guide the ball into the net from 15 yards.
“In an ideal world we would have liked to have gone on and scored one or two more.”
Daniel Kelly had earlier continued his recent goal scoring form to give Swifts the lead before Whitletts bounced back to level.
Gunnion said the trip to Ayrshire was, as expected, a tough afternoon of football. He said: “While the scoreline was tight, I felt we were the better team and managed the game well throughout. We never looked in danger of losing the tie.
“The weather played its part in reducing the quality of football. It was wet and windy throughout.
“But the players ground out a result and after seeing some of the results from Saturday, I’m delighted to be sitting in the next round.” Now Gunnion is hoping for a home tie in the next round. He said: “I never really worry about the draw for the next round. We can’t affect the outcome. But the preference would be for a home tie.
“I used to think that avoiding a Super League club would be a bonus but teams from the lower leagues always raise their game and look to take a scalp. All we can do is wait and see who’s next and prepare as well as we possibly can.
“In the meantime, however, the Scottish Cup gets put to one side as we have two huge league games and a GA cup tie coming up in the next three weeks.”