Jamie McKim insists his Johnstone Burgh side will be better prepared next season after bringing a difficult 2018/19 campaign to a close with a 2-2 draw away to Carluke Rovers.
McKim’s men got off to a flier with Billy Davies taking advantage of some nervy defending to open the scoring after just four minutes only for the hosts to hit back quickly, levelling proceedings thanks to Kieran Laffferty.
Carluke, who were chasing promotion, got their noses in front before the break through Paul Donaghy but Burgh battled back well in the second-half, looking comfortable in possession as they went on to dominate the match.
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Derek McGrory should have equalised 52 minutes in after finding himself unmarked in the area only to head wide from six-yards out in front of an open goal.
Burgh then had a stonewaller waved away after Davies was fouled in the box but continued to press forward in search of the leveller with the Carluke keeper doing well to maintain his side’s advantage.
Carluke’s good fortune eventually ran out with seven minutes remaining after a hopeful ball into the packed box allowed skipper Niall Herron time to swoop in to nick it and round off Burgh’s season with a well-deserved point.
The gaffer told Gazette Sport last week that he was eager to get the Rovers match out of the way in order to put all of his focus on building and developing a squad that will be able to compete at the right end of the table next season.
And while McKim was disappointed not to win the game after the amount of chances his side created, he revealed he already had one eye on the bigger picture.
He said: “First of all I’m still disappointed we didn’t manage to go and win that game. The two goals we concede are two of the poorest we’ve lost all season if I’m being honest. We had plenty of chances and should have scored more goals but it was a good display all things considered.
“It’s not a bad result to finish the season with away from home but we’re more focused on making sure we do things right now the season is over.
“For us, the hard work started in January in terms of scouting players, but now that the season is done we can put our focus solely on that side of things. We put a lot of time into the training sessions, tactics, team talks and set pieces throughout the season and that takes a lot out of you as does going to different games around the leagues every week. Now I can put all those hours into working with the players we’ve already shortlisted and on building on the groundwork already put in place in the last few months.”
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As for an end of the season holiday, McKim revealed that will have to wait with further scouting missions planned in the coming weeks.
He added: “Our season may be finished now but the amateur leagues and the under 21s won’t finish until the end of May. We’ll be looking at those with an eye on some players then we’ll take a well-deserved holiday before getting back into it for the Sectional League Cup at the end of July.”
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