Dowds thanks Lichties for an ‘amazing’ time

GRATEFUL: Striker Anton Dowds, second right, says he’s loved every minute of his successful loan spell at Arbroath.

Anton Dowds has thanked Arbroath for helping him fall in love with football again. The 25-year-old has returned to Falkirk after a hugely successful loan spell at Gayfield.

Dowds notched crucial goals for the Lichties in his 17 games, helping them reach the summit of the Championship.

Now, after leaving Angus, the striker expressed his gratitude to gaffer Dick Campbell.

“I loved every minute of it,” he said.

“How supportive they’ve been to myself and my family in our time up there has made it an amazing experience.

“It was an amazing opportunity for me to come in. I was shown a lot of trust by the management team and I’m very grateful for that.

“The position I was in in the summer wasn’t looking too good for me, personally. I got shown a lot of confidence at Arbroath, from the manager and Ian.

“Dick had been honest to me on the phone. He said: ‘We have brilliant strikers at the club but you offer something different, so just get yourself ready, keep your head down and you will get your chance’.”

On his time in the maroon jersey, there was one moment in particular that stood out for Dowds: scoring the late winner against Kilmarnock.

The result was Arbroath’s first ever win at Rugby Park – and the moment that began the side’s move to the top.

“I think the Kilmarnock one was a big one for myself and the fans,” he said.

“It was a real test for us to go down there against the favourites for the league. They are a Premiership team really, with the players they’ve got and set-up they have.

“To go down there and play the way we did, it was a deserved win but being able to get that winner was really special.”

Despite efforts from Arbroath to extend the loan spell, the striker has returned to the Bairns.

While now back with Falkirk, he admitted his near-future is out of his control.

“These sorts of decisions are made between the clubs, it’s outwith my hands at this stage,” he said.

“I’m a Falkirk player at the minute, they’re the ones that own me, so it’s very much with them. That’s where we’re at.”

Captain Tam O’Brien, meanwhile, insists Arbroath will never get too big for their boots – because Campbell would soon bring them crashing back down to earth.

O’Brien has been a pivotal part in the Lichties’ ascent to the top of the Championship which has turned them into unlikely play-off contenders.

The 30-year-old defender has helped the on-form Angus outfit keep five clean sheets in their last six outings. The Gayfield men will try to keep their run of fine form going today against Ayr United at Somerset Park.

But the stopper, who joined the Gayfield club in 2017, has killed any notion that the part-timers will let their recent exploits go to their heads.

O’Brien said: “We’ve every right to be confident just now.

“Who wouldn’t be when you’re on this kind of form and holding your own against some of the bigger clubs in the division?

“We’re absolutely entitled to believe we can give anyone a game on our day and no way are we fearing anything.

“But the big thing is that we’re just taking things in our stride without getting over-confident in the slightest.

“That would be wrong but I know it would never happen anyway because of the kind of work ethic we have at the club.

“For a start, the gaffer wouldn’t tolerate that. We have the same approach here as we’ve had since I joined five years ago.

“We’ve made brilliant progress under the gaffer. We’ve come such a long way in the past few seasons for a part-time club.

“However, we know that everything we’ve achieved up until now all stems from his hard work philosophy and getting the basics right.

“We never go into any game thinking it’s going to be easy or we’ll need to be at anything less than our best.”

Arbroath earned a share of the spoils with secondtop Inverness in last Sunday’s 0-0 draw at Gayfield.

Now they’re striving to get back to winning ways at fourth-bottom Ayr this afternoon – but O’Brien is refusing to write off the Honest Men.

“We’ll approach this game at Somerset exactly the same as we would Inverness, Raith Rovers or Kilmarnock,” he added.

“I think Ayr have had their ups and downs this season but they’re still dangerous opponents.

“The gaffer is always on at us not to drop our standards, so we know what’s expected.”