Shotts boss hails "massive achievement" after promotion to West of Scotland Premier Division

Shotts gaffer John McKeown hailed his promotion-winning squad for their “massive achievement” in taking the club up to the top flight in the West of Scotland Football League.

The Hannah Park club, who were tipped by some to be relegation strugglers this term, have punched above their weight and competed with sides on far bigger budgets, giving the likes of big-spending champions Drumchapel United and second-place Johnstone Burgh a run for their money all season.

Their success in cup competitions left them with a huge fixture backlog but, having crammed in six games over the space of a fortnight, they are celebrating a job well done after Saturday’s 3-2 victory at Blantyre Victoria sealed their promotion from the First Division with two games to spare.

“I’m really proud of them,” McKeown beamed. “They were brilliant and just to get over the line now is a relief as well, after all the games we’ve had recently. They thoroughly deserve it and it is good to do it with a couple of games to spare.

“Going away to Rutherglen Glencairn, then Kilbirnie and Blantyre in a week and winning all three of them was just massive. I think it shows you how good a team we have here and how much character we’ve got because these are hard places to go, so I’m delighted after a season of hard graft.

“It was energy-sapping in that sunshine on Saturday after all the games we had in a week, but it was a good day for it. All the players’ families were there and there were great celebrations at the end.

“We had a good night on Saturday. We went back to one of the sponsors’ pubs in Uddingston and this weekend we are going to have a celebration in the social club at Shotts as well.”

It took an Ally Martin penalty midway through the second half to make sure of the three points, with a Danny Burns double helping Shotts go in level 2-2 at the break.

McKeown added: “The first half was very even and we were just alright, but in the second half I felt we dominated and we were brilliant. Blantyre were good though and looked a lot fresher than us.

“We got a penalty that won it for us. We should have had one before it and the one we actually got was a lot softer than the one we didn’t get. But it was all about getting the result and nothing else.”

Next season promises to be an even tougher test for Shotts as they will tackle WOSFL big guns including Auchinleck Talbot, Darvel and Pollok.

McKeown knows he will need to strengthen and hopes to add’ four or five’ experienced additions over a short summer break and he said: “The majority of the squad have agreed to sign on for next season so there is probably only going to be a couple of players who will leave the squad. We’ll look to go and add four or five experienced ones who have been in the Premier Division before or played at a higher level.”

Shotts close out their campaign this week with home clashes against St Roch’s tonight and Blantyre Vics on Saturday, which could see them sneak second place from Johnstone Burgh.

”It would be a good achievement to get second now but it is more about looking after the players we have here because pre-season is just around the corner,” said McKeown. "We’ll be back in mid-June so we need to let the boys recover after all the hard yards in the last few months.

“There will 100 per cent be changes to the team this week. Danny Burns and Adam Hunter played on Saturday with hamstring strains. Danny scored a double and just after he scored his second goal his hamstring went again, so he will be out. We will be mixing it up a bit because we have to. There’s loads of injuries so we will give some of the under-20s a chance.”

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