Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Rovers sink Rose to go nine games unbeaten
LINLITHGOW ROSE...............................0 ALBION ROVERS....................................1
Andy Mcgilvray Albion Rovers stretched their unbeaten Lowland League run to nine games with a 1-0 win over Linlithgow Rose on Saturday, and boss Sandy Clark says they’re in a good place.
Competition for places at the Cliftonhill club is high, and Clark reckons that keeps everyone on their toes.
A strike by Bright Prince inside firsthalf stoppage time gave Rovers all three points, and their last league defeat came against Cowdenbeath on December 23.
Clark said: “We’re on a good run, that’s nine league games unbeaten, and we’re playing well, growing in confidence. We’re in a decent place at the moment, which is great, I think everyone is enjoying their football and we’ve got a competitive squad as well, now.
“If you want to stay in the team, you need to play well. That’s a great position to be in.
“We’re very young, but the lads are working so hard to try and do the right things in training, and that’s coming through when we play the games.
“They’ve got a wee bit of determination about them as well, so they’re maturing into a reasonably good team.
“It was a difficult game, Linlithgow were much better than they were a couple of weeks ago when we beat them 3-0.
“They had a lot of possession, without creating too many chances, but we got the goal, got ahead, and we really should have picked them off in the second half – we missed three or four really good chances, where I’d expect us to score one of them, if not more. “That would have killed the game. “We defended really well, from the front all the way to Ross Connelly in goals, and I think that’s the foundation that we managed to get all three points from.”
Rovers’ run could be tested when they travel to Ferguson Park on Friday to face fourth-placed Hearts ‘ B’, but Clark says they go to Edinburgh with confidence.
He said: “It’s a completely different project for Hearts and Celtic ‘ B’. Everyone else is trying to do the best they can and win the league, but those two clubs are about developing their younger players.
“I totally understand why they do it, but it’s a different opposition. Hearts have young players who are talented, quick and enthusiastic, but they don’t have a lot of experience, and that’s why they’re playing in this league.
“We’ve got enough about us to make sure we give them a good game and it will be interesting.
“Hearts are in a good position in the league, so it will be another difficult match, but we’ll go there with a lot of confidence.
“Results are a priority, that’s always the case, maybe apart from Celtic and Hearts, but if you get a good performance with a good result, that’s what makes it a satisfying job, and the bit that I really enjoy.”