Tough talking from Ferguson inspires spirited Kelty win
Barry Ferguson is no longer in the thick of it in the middle of a pitch but the former Rangers captain showed his will to win has not been diluted by swapping the strip for a tracksuit.
Ferguson’s Kelty Hearts emphatically saw off Brora Rangers with a 4-1 win yesterday and an aggregate 6-1 victory overall to set up a Scottish League Two play-off against Brechin, a play-off round that was scrapped in the chaos of a Covid-hit season last year.
A perfect hat-trick from Nathan Austin and a late goal from Dylan Easton ensured the brief fire Brora showed following Greg Morrison’s opening goal of the afternoon was quickly extinguished, much to the delight of hardy locals who braved icy rain to gather for peeks through the fence as the game unfolded.
The Kelty manager did not so much as kick every ball as he barked instructions from the off as he prowled his technical area.
Indeed, with the scoreline at 3-1, Ferguson could be heard to loudly remonstrate with a Brora player with the kind of industrial language that suggested the spirit with which he played the game is in keeping with how he manages.
As the teams headed into the break on level terms, Ferguson admitted he wasn’t best pleased as he addressed his players and requested greater impetus in terms of their approach.
“I had a chat with them at half-time and you saw the response,” he said. “We were excellent and we scored some great goals and we had a thoroughly deserved win.
“It wasn’t a calm chat but they know I’m demanding. I expect more from them. But I’ve got to be realistic that they’ve not played for four months and that’s two games in four games.
“They are an honest group of boys who give me everything and that’s all I can ask as a manager.
“We aren’t playing at the levels I know we are capable of, there’s no doubt about that. We were four months without a game until Tuesday and I knew the adrenaline would get them through that, but we were a bit sloppy and slow to start in the first half.”
Kelty will host the first leg of the play-off final next Tuesday night with 500 fans allowed in to cheer them on.
Ferguson has insisted that the 10 days preparation for the game after a season in which they have had just 13 league games will benefit his side but he has maintained that he will be taking nothing for granted against Brechin.
“It was rushed, we had just under three weeks to prepare and I hadn’t seen them for three and a half months,” he said.
“You saw in glimpses what a good team we can be.
“You can see the difference when you have a guy like Nathan Austin up top who can score goals . He wins you games.
“I don’t care what anybody says, Brechin are a good team.
“We played them in the Betfred and beat them 2-0 at Glebe Park and a lot of people will look at that but it’s a play-off final, over two legs and they are playing for their lives to stay in the SPFL.
“We want to make a bit of history at Kelty because the journey we have been on over the last 30 months has been unbelievable.
“We will give it our best shot and we will work hard over the next 10 days and see where it takes us.
“In big games here we get 2000 people in. Football for me is nothing without fans and we have a great following. We are well supported at this level and it will be great to get 500 fans in.”