IT’S IN ARTHURLIE’S HANDS

KILWINNING ARE NOT READY TO BOW OUT JUST YET SAYS TIFF

The end of a crazy seesawing Premier Division season could be nigh tomorrow afternoon.

Chris Strain’s exciting Beith side have deservedly been crowned Champions while the ifs, buts and maybes of the battle to avoid relegation are far more easily understood after Rob Roy and Kilwinning Rangers played out a 0-0 draw last Wednesday night .

Petershill and Cambuslang Rangers were already down before the |Guys Meadow stalemate and all that remains to be decided now is whether the second bottom of the table Buffs or their currently seven points better off rivals Arthurlie will be joining them.

The smart money is on the Barrhead outfit staying up and little wonder seeing as the Ayrshiremen will only be guaranteed survival if they can take full points from their three remaining fixtures, Largs Thistle tomorrow (H) then Troon (A) and Petershill (A) in tandem with Arthurlie suffering defeats against Hurlford Utd tomorrow (H) and Glenafton (H) next Saturday.

Kilwinning gaffer Chris Aitken is set to be posted missing from the home dugout after being harshly red carded in the Rob Roy game , however he is admirably remaining defiant in refusing to accept the seemingly inevitable … that his side are about to take a fall.

“Everyone at the club is hurting but while there’s so much as a glimmer of hope then we need to keep fighting our corner.” said Tiff.

“I won’t be found hiding away and neither will the players because we owe it to our supporters to make amends for criminally passing up a glorious opportunity to close the points gap on Arthurlie last Wednesday.

“ Rob Roy’s goalkeeper was sent off just ten minutes in and they had to give the gloves to an outfield player because they had no substitute yet unbelievably it took us until the 85^th minute before getting our first shot on target against ten men.

“To have allowed the safety target for Arthurlie to become an easier reach is not what we wanted so the aim now is try to pick up full points from our remaining games and see what it does for us?.”

The Kilwinning gaffer reports a clean bill of health with no injuries of any note however he is likely to ring the changes for his side’s last home game of the season not least because of sprightly front man Ally McColm declaring himself fit and ready for the fray .

Tiff admitted, “Confidence as you might expect is a bit on the low side after Wednesday but Ally is a real bubbly type on and off the pitch as well as having an eye for goal and I’m banking on his return acting as an ideal pick-me-up for the guys.”

Meanwhile, I really should have known better than to ask Colin Reilly if he had any thoughts about his former club Vale of Clyde’s recent hiccups in the race for the P.D.M. Third Division title.

The Tin Pail followed up a 3-0 defeat by rivals Larkhall Thistle with a disappointing 2-2 draw against bottom of the table Saltcoats Vics before bouncing back with a 4-2 midweek victory over Dalry Thistle that leaves them sitting second top of the standings, two points behind frontrunners Ardrossan Winton Rovers but crucially with two games in hand.

However the affable team boss who previously had a hold of the Fullarton Park helm until his surprise appointment to the Arthurlie hotseat four wins and three defeats ago (aka mid-March) made it abundantly clear where his footballing priorities lie.

“ Football is a game where you are constantly moving on and my entire focus for the past eight weeks has been on the job in hand here at Arthurlie and nothing else , “ scathed the 40 year old .

“I wished everyone at the |Vale all the very best for the rest of the season when I left and I do look at their results in passing but truth is I’ve no interest in their situation anymore.

“Investing my time and energy into trying to prevent Arthurlie from dropping out of the Premier Division has been stressful enough thank you.”

LEWIS MAGEE SITS OUT VITAL CONTEST FOR ARTHURLIE

Nobody can deny Reilly’s management has worked the oracle for Lie supporters who could never have imagined their club’s third managerial appointment of the season would be on the threshold of retaining their top flight status with one win ( a draw will probably suffice) from their final two league matches.

It follows therefore that a bumper crowd is sure to take in tomorrow’s clash at home to a Hurlford United side intent on avenging a 1-0 defeat from when the clubs met earlier this season.

Reilly admitted, “Hurlford present a tough obstacle for us just as Largs Thistle do for Kilwinning Rangers however it’s pleasing to think we have safety in our own hands and don’t need to rely on anyone else doing us favours.

“I’d have bitten your hand off to be in this situation when I first came through the dressing room door to a group of players whose heads were down and couldn’t see any light at the end of the tunnel from thinking why is the club bringing in a Third Division manager?

“ Derek Wilson and I quietly went about the job of changing that mindset and to be fair the players to a man have been nothing short of magnificent in adapting to our approach and methods so I cannot praise them enough.

“Where we are now from where we were is a great achievement.”

The Lie gaffer who is without suspended stopper Lewis Magee against Hurlford added “ There’s no trophy up for grabs tomorrow and avoiding relegation should not be a cause for popping the champagne at a club with our history but I’m sure we can be excused a bit of celebrating if results go our way.”

There’s precious little to play for elsewhere in the Premier Division tomorrow with only pride at stake , albeit Irvine Meadow will be hosting the visit of an Auchinleck Talbot side intent on overhauling Darvel to finish as runners-up to title winners Beith whom they defeated 2-1 in midweek thanks to a brace of goals from Ross Smth .

The meeting of the old and new champions at Recreation Park which at one time promised to be a title decider is shaping up more and more like an anti-climax affair as the wheels have assuredly come off the Darvel bandwagon given their two defeats and a draw since last month’s resignation of gaffer Mick Kennedy.

All the leading First Division title and promotion contenders are in action and nowhere will the pressure be more intense than at the Donald Dewar Stadium where fourth top Drumchapel United will be out to end a potentially damaging run of six games without a win when taking on Johnstone Burgh .

The Possil derby between second placed Ashfield and fifth top Glasgow Perthshire is the pick of the Second Division encounters

Finally, sad to relate the news of this midweek’s passing of legendary Cambuslang Rangers and Junior Scotland centre half Jackie Mordue following a short illness/

Mordue was one of the veritable cornerstones of the great Cambuslang side that dominated the Junior Football scene around the early 1970’s. a period in which he played in four consecutive Scottish Junior Cup Finals and emerged as a three times medal winner against Bonnyrigg Rose, Newtongrange Star and Linlithgow Rose.

WEEKEND GAMES: P.D.M.Buildbase Premier Division. Darvel v Beith, Irvine Meadow v Auchinleck Talbot, Kilwinning Rangers v Largs Thistle, Arthurlie v Hurlford Utd , Clydebank v Glenafton, Rob Roy v Cambuslang Rangers ,Troon v Cumnock. PDM Buildbase First Division. St Rochs v Benburb, Thorniewood Utd v Gartcairn, Whitletts Vics v Shotts Bon Accord,Blantyre Vics v Kilbirnie Ladeside, Neilston v St Cadocs(Tonight 7.15PM), Rutherglen Glencairn v Rossvale, Drumchapel Utd v Johnstone Burgh. PDM Buildbase Second Division. Yoker Athletic v Glasgow Utd (Tonight 7.30 PM), Ardeer Thistle v Maybole, Ashfield, v Glasgow Perthshire ,Craigmark v Maryhill , Kilsyth Rangers v Renfrew, Muirkirk v Wishaw, Glasgow University v Forth Wanderers. PDM Buildbase Third Division. Carluke Rovers v Saltcoats Vics, Vale of Clyde v Newmains Utd, Port Glasgow v Ardrossan Winton Rovers, Dalry Thistle v Lugar Boswell, Vale of Leven v Bellshill Athletic, Girvan v Lesmahagow, Larkhall Thistle v Royal Albert, Kello Rovers v Finnart , East Kilbride Thistle v Irvine Vics.

Regards

Jim O’Donnell