Bosses’ joy as first league win arrives
Side battle for deserved points
Cambuslang Rangers finally got their season up and running after winning their opening central league division two fixture on Saturday.
Co-managers Paddy Flannery and John Doyle breathed a huge sigh of relief at the full time whistle, as they claimed their first competitive win in charge of the side by beating Royal Albert 1-0 away.
It may not have been the prettiest of wins, but it is still an important three points.
Now they are hoping to build on that success as the weeks go by.
A relieved Paddy said: “Everything we have been doing in pre-season has been geared towards the first league game, working with the players and trying out formations.
“We’ve got the three points, we’ve won the game, and got a clean sheet. We couldn’t have asked for much more.
“A win is a win, and we will take that. After the results we had in the sectional league cup, which didn’t go to plan, we’ll quite happily take a 1-0 win.”
The defence, which had been shipping goals for fun - on average around three goals per game - gained a clean sheet and looked a bit more solid against Royal Albert.
They were boosted as Gerry Ward made his comeback after a four game ban which saw him sit out all of the sectional league cup games.
Paddy continued: “The team still isn’t at full strength, with our captain Chris Hamilton out, and Paul Burns still not fit, and they’re two important players that have been out for the last week while.
“I’m sure it’s been the same for most teams recently, still having some of their boys unavailable, but we won’t maximise our potential for a while yet until our injured boys come back.
“It’s been important that, after the sectional league cup, we solidify our defence.
“We’ve changed things round and gone for three at the back, and given the boys individual roles to deal with the job in hand, and they did that well.
“It has been tough going, but the most important thing is we have got a great bunch of boys who are fit and hungry to win things.”
Paddy now hopes that having got the first win under their belts, the side can use it to kick on in their forthcoming league and cup fixtures.
He said: “We knew we had to get a win on Saturday, as it would give us something to build from.
“We never spoke about losing, and we were confident that we had the ability and fitness to get the three points.
“I felt we should have been 2-0 up in the first 20 minutes. We were maybe a bit nervous for a while early on, but once we got over that, the game seemed to settle.
“On the whole, looking at the game overall, I felt we thoroughly deserved the three points, and it gives us a platform to build from and the confidence levels are up. With players coming back, we’re looking forward to the challenge.”