Cumbernauld Colts face '10 cup finals' in Lowland League survival scrap
Cumbernauld Colts head coach John Doyle says the side are facing ‘10 cup finals’ in their bid to avoid finishing bottom of the Lowland League.
The Broadwood side claimed a huge 3-2 win over Celtic B on Saturday to move off bottom spot and go a point above nearest rivals Broomhill, who have three games in hand.
And they now have 10 games remaining to preserve their status in the fifth tier.
Former Cambuslang Rangers boss Doyle took the reins earlier this month following Craig Malcolm’s caretaker spell at the helm and he is tasked with keeping the team up.
Colts pulled off a stunning win over defending champions and current leaders East Kilbride on the opening day under then boss David Proctor, but their campaign has unravelled spectacularly and they sit second bottom with just four wins from 24 games so far.
Doyle knows they must pick up points fast and insists bringing in some more experience to the squad in recent weeks can help them achieve their goal.
He said: “The team obviously started the season really bright with the win over EK but once some players came in and went things didn’t go so well.
“I know Malky quite well so I was keeping an eye on how he was doing and when the job came up, I started to do a bit of homework and get a picture of what I was dealing with.
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“What I found was they are a young squad with a lot of potential, but they lacked a bit of experience and a bit of depth. I felt the team was a bit too young and lacked a competitive edge.
“So when I came in, the first thing was adding some experience to the spine of the team.
“We’ve managed to bring in guys who I know are real competitors. We’ve managed to add Liam Allison from Linlithgow Rose, which is a massive help, and Ben Johnson, albeit Ben is young. But I’ve known him around the lower leagues for a while and he knows what it is like to scrap for points.
“We wanted players who know what it is going to be all about for the rest of the season.
“It is going to be 10 cup finals for us, so we need players who are ready, able and willing to play how we are going to need to play to scrap for points.”
Doyle is not going to try and reinvent the wheel to get them going and added: “I’m not coming in with a philosophy of how I want to play. It is a bit late in the day to try and do that.
“We are not in a position to get five players who can change our style, we just need to scrap for points on a game-to-game basis.”
Colts take a break from league action this weekend with no game scheduled, but they host East Kilbride in the first round of the Lowland Cup on Tuesday night, kick-off 7.45pm.
