Steven Mackay on lessons learned ahead of Brora Rangers' latest promotion push
Steven Mackay is drawing on previous play-off experience as he tries to plot Highland League champions Brora Rangers' path into the SPFL.
The Cattachs face East Kilbride at K Park on Saturday in the first leg of the pyramid play-off semi-final.
This is the third time Brora have competed in the play-offs.
In 2015, manager Mackay was playing as they were edged out 3-2 on aggregate by Montrose in the play-off final.
Six years later, Mackay was in the dugout as the Breedon Highland League champions lost 6-1 over two legs to Kelty Hearts in the semi-final.
As Brora prepare to take on East Kilbride, Mackay has looked back on that previous play-off involvement as he seeks a successful outcome on this occasion.
He said: 'Personally I'm using the experience of the last two play-offs we've had.
'You can do a lot of damage in the first leg, as we suffered against Kelty.
'But I also look back to when we played Montrose, and we won the first leg at Dudgeon Park 1-0, but they were still in the tie and managed to take advantage at Links Park.
'There are lots of lessons we can learn from those experiences and hopefully they stand us in good stead.
'We'll give it our best shot and I think a key thing for us is to not be too open – that hurt us the last time against Kelty when we were at home and we were too open.
'Kelty picked us off and won 2-0 and that made the second leg very difficult for us and, in the end, even though we got the first goal in the second leg, they beat us 6-1 on aggregate.
'We need to make sure we're not too open and we approach the game in the right manner so that we've got something to play for in the second leg at Dudgeon Park.'
It has been a season to remember for Brora, who have won the Highland League, R Davidson (Banchory) Highland League Cup and North of Scotland Cup.
Mackay believes on and off the pitch the Cattachs are in as strong a position as they've ever been to try to move up to the next level.
He added: 'On and off the pitch, I think there's no doubt that the club is in as good a position as it could be to try to go up.
'It feels like we're as prepared as we can be which gives us confidence.
'We feel that we're ready on the pitch and the club is ready off the pitch as well – which wasn't the case in the past.
'The club as a whole is in a good position and we'll go and give it our all.
'We've been vocal about it that we'd love to go up.
'Everyone is in it together, whereas maybe in the past there were differences of opinion, with some wanting to go up and some wanting to stay in the Highland League.
'Now we're all focused on trying to get into the SPFL – but East Kilbride are the same and are also desperate to go up.'
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