New Dalbeattie Star management team get off to perfect start with win over Bonnyrigg Rose

Chris Jardine made the perfect start to his time in charge of Dalbeattie Star.

The former Annan Athletic stalwart has taken over following the departure of Ritchie Maxwell.

And his first game in charge saw Star inflict just the second defeat of the season on newly crowned Lowland League champions Bonnyrigg Rose.

Jardine joked: “People’s expectations will maybe have gone through the roof!

“I said to the players it was probably the ideal game for us to have. I congratulated their manager on winning the league before the game – I’d seen some videos and they had clearly been celebrating.

“You hope they dip a little bit and there’s no better game to have as your first game than the champions coming to your ground because you want to be the first team to knock them down. It was a pretty straightforward team talk and I think it was the best game we could have had.”

Dalbeattie Star gave Bonnyrigg Rose a guard of honour (Bobby Geddes)

Star took an early lead through Dylan Cairnie and a second arrived soon after, Dom McMahon playing in Ross Irving who found the back of the net.

It was the ideal beginning for Jardine, who has stepped up from assistant manager following Maxwell’s departure for work reasons.

He’ll be assisted by former Annan team-mate Peter Watson.

Jardine said: “It was important to try to get somebody in to help me with Ritchie going and I’ve managed to do that with big Peter coming in.

“Taking over wasn’t something I’d even thought about. I was happy with what I was doing. I did know a bit in advance it was happening as me and Ritchie spoke a lot and we didn’t want to tell the players until there was a plan in place.

Star players celebrate Dylan Cairnie's goal (Bobby Geddes)

“As soon as Ritchie said he had his opportunity in terms of his work and the club wanted me to take over I was always going to do that – I’d never have left the club struggling.

“Nothing really needs to change, it’s just trying to keep the players’ heads up as Ritchie was so popular that it was always going to be disappointing.

“We said the best thing we could do was not let his good work go to waste and to finish strongly as we have a chance to have a successful season.”

Star began their League Cup campaign with a draw against Gretna 2008 on Wednesday night, with their next group game at Caledonian Braves on Saturday.