Gartcairn boss Mick Dunlop praised his side for digging out a result when they weren’t playing well, but says the 4-3 win over Whitletts Vics wasn’t good for his heart-rate.
New signings Darren Brownlie and Danny Burns scored in what was a second 4-3 win over Whitletts this season, having signed from Thorniewood United and Stirling Albion, respectively, while former Motherwell and East Kilbride star Darren Smith also played.
Dunlop says Gartcairn didn’t play well, but will happily take the result, as it puts them joint-top of the West of Scotland League First Division with rivals St Cadoc’s.
He said: “That’s the second time we’ve played them this season, the first one was I think the third game of the season down at their bit, and it was 4-3 to us.
“It’s definitely two games where defences haven’t been on top anyway.
“It was a good game for the neutral, not so good for my heart-rate to be honest!
“Ultimately, the most important thing was winning the game, which we managed to do.
“If I’m being honest, overall a draw would have been a fair result, but I’m not complaining, I’ll take it.
“It was a massive three points for us, but we weren’t good.
“The week before we played Blantyre Vics in the West of Scotland Cup and won 5-0, which was by far the best we’ve played this season.
“We named an unchanged team for Saturday, and it was nowhere near the same level.
“We were 2-1 down at half-time, had to make a couple of substitutions, and the performance was poor, but you have to give the players a lot of credit for digging out a result when you’re not playing well.”
Brownlie and Burns scored, and Dunlop reckons bringing players in has given his side a huge lift, as they head for Bonnyton Thistle this weekend.
“Our subs made a big impact,” he said. “We had signed Darren Brownlie from Thorniewood and Danny Burns from Stirling Albion, and they both played well and scored for us.
“We had worked hard in the first half of the season to get ourselves into a good position, but in the business end now it’s important to improve and kick on.
“If you can get two or three players in that will strengthen you, it helps everything – even the players that are there. It gives everyone a wee lift.”
The result leaves Gartcairn locked on 27 points from 13 games, three ahead of Drumchapel United, who have two games in hand over both.
Dunlop said: “It’s still early days but we’re definitely in a good spot with St Cadoc’s losing, and it was important to win the game.
“It was a massive three points for us, and I’m looking forward to this weekend.
“We played Bonnyton just before Christmas in a midweek game and won 5-2, but since then they’ve had some excellent results – they’ve beaten Johnstone Burgh and St Cadoc’s.
“It just shows in this league that in every single game you’ve got to be right at it.”
Follow Lanarkshire Live Sport on Twitter via @LanLiveSport, like us on Facebook or find us on Instagram for the latest sports news, pictures and video.
