East Kilbride Thistle player-boss Aaron Connolly branded Royal Albert’s pitch the worst he’s ever seen in his non-league career after his side earned a hard-fought win at Tileworks Park.
The Jags had to come from a goal down to claim a 2-1 victory on Saturday and Connolly reckoned it was an impressive feat, given the conditions they had to play in.
Having gone 1-0 down inside the opening few minutes, Thistle rallied and goals from Liam McLaughlin and Adam Edgar gave them victory.
But Connolly said: “It looks like a game we should go and win because it’s against the team at the bottom of the table but when you add some context to it terms of the pitch - which, no disrespect to Royal Albert, is the worst I’ve ever seen in my 10-15 years in junior football - I’m really proud of the players.
“It was a really poor surface, heavy, cut up, really long and it made it difficult for us to play football.
“But credit to the players for getting the ball down to try and play in the style we’ve been trying to hammer home to them.
“We conceded a freak goal early on after a mistake in the box, but the players just kept trying to play football the way we want them to.
“They kept trying to get the ball down and play, despite it being a really difficult pitch.
“We were a goal down but we didn’t panic and they kept going with what we’ve been working on.
“To go and get the win was just rewards for that and the manner in which the win came along for us was massive.”
The result puts Thistle eighth in the West of Scotland League Third Division, with six wins in 16 games.
One of the most pleasing aspects for Connolly was seeing their youth players flourish.
He added: “We had four teenagers starting the game - two of them for the first time - so that was really pleasing.
“Left back Mark Steel is 17, centre-back Luke Jackson is 18, James Scott is an 18-year-old in centre midfield and Ryan McDade is a 19-year-old striker, so it was a really youthful, inexperienced squad but they are trying hard to do things in the right manner.
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“I’m really pleased with the last couple of performances.”
This weekend Thistle are on West of Scotland League Cup duty and are due to face BSC Glasgow's B-team, who play in the WOSFL Fourth Division.
The match was postponed last week due to the weather and with temperatures plummeting, the rearranged tie could be in doubt.
Connolly is open to a venue switch if the Showpark isn't playable.
He added: "We will see how it goes and review things closer to Saturday.
"We've already given up home advantage in the cup this season - when we went down to Darvel instead of playing at home - so we are more than happy to do that to get games played.
"We want to get as many games played as we can for consistency. BSC play on grass as well so I'm not sure if it will be any better or if we can find an alternative.
"The game gives us a wee break from league duty but we are looking to carry on our momentum.
"The performance levels in the last couple of games have been good and we will continue to give opportunities to the younger ones coming through to get experience at this level."
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