Yahoo News Threave Rovers caretaker gaffer believes there's still a "slight chance" of promotion
Threave Rovers caretaker boss Paul McGinley believes there is still a “slight chance” the season can end in promotion for his side.
The Castle Douglas outfit drew 2-2 at second top Bellshill Athletic on Saturday.
That leaves Threave fifth in the West of Scotland League’s third division with five games to go – five points behind Bellshill, who have six games left, and Vale of Leven, who have four games remaining.
McGinley said: “It’s not the end of the world, we’re still in with a slight chance and we’ll know better where we stand after Saturday.
“Bellshill would have been disappointed if they didn’t get something and I’d have to say they deserved a point.
“We didn’t deserve to lose it although I wouldn’t say we deserved to win it – but we had two great chances in the last couple of minutes.
“We’re the fittest team in the league, we’ll keep going right to the end and we seem to finish stronger than anyone else.
“Over the piece a draw is a fair result. It’s five games unbeaten from us since we had the wee blip against Port Glasgow.
“The boys have definitely turned a corner there and we could quite easily have had maximum points from those five game.”
Bellshill took an early lead through Kieron Markey but Danny Dunglinson levelled from the spot after Harry Officer was fouled.
Dylan Cairnie’s cross-come-shot put Threave in front as the hour mark approached but Markey’s header 15 minutes from the end secured a point for the home side.
McGinley said: “They were on us from early on and put us under a bit of pressure. They took the game to us, we were on the back foot for long periods.
“We dug deep and were lucky to come in 1-1 at half-time – not on chances created but in terms of overall play and controlling the game. They were certainly on top of us there.
“We made a few tweaks at half-time to get ourselves back in the game and got our noses in front. It was deserved and we could have scored another just after that.
“We were in the ascendancy then and looked quite comfortable but they came back again and you have to hand them credit, they were strong. Physicality told a wee bit but our boys dug really deep.
It was unfortunate to lose a goal from set play but we defended them well most of the time. Their set plays are the best I’ve seen this season, the boys that whip them in are superb, and that’s what cost us the victory.”
The next seven days could prove crucial for Threave’s promotion hopes.
On Saturday they host Glasgow United – whose squad includes former Scotland and Dundee United striker David Goodwillie – and on Tuesday they travel to league leaders Lanark United.
McGinley said: “Saturday will be a different game altogether. You can never say a team is a one man team but they have David Goodwillie, who is the best player in non-league football.
“We’ll try to play our natural game, we’ll be very offensive, but we need to make sure we keep him quiet. He’s the top goalscorer in the league.
“We’ll put Tuesday on the back burner just now. We beat them earlier in the season and I said then that if you want to win the league you need to make sure you’re above them because they were excellent that day. It’ll be another tough task but we need to see how Saturday goes first.”
