2 days ago
Albion Rovers boss compares goal hero to Usain Bolt after comeback win at Gala Fairydean Rovers
Sandy Clark was full of praise for Devan McColl after his contribution in Saturday's success
Albion Rovers boss Sandy Clark joked he thought Usain Bolt was involved in Saturday's comeback victory over Gala - after Devan McColl showed blistering pace on his way to bagging the winner.
The Coatbridge club fell behind at Cliftonhill to a Lennon Connelly strike inside 18 minutes, but quick-fire goals in the space of two minutes early in the second half turned the game on its head.
A Barry Duncan free-kick deflected into the net in 52 minutes to get Rovers on level terms, before McColl broke on the counter attack at speed and unleashed a venomous drive to grab all three points for the hosts.
And Clark said McColl reminded him of a certain Olympic champion sprinter. He said: 'It was a great performance from our guys. It took us a bit of time in the first half to get into the game, but that happens to us a lot because we are such a young squad.
'We lost a goal in the first half, but we managed to hang in and had a couple of half decent chances to equalise, just never quite got there.
'In the second half we scored straight from a free-kick from Barry Duncan, which took a bit of a deflection that deceived the goalkeeper.
'After that we got the second goal really quickly. It was a brilliant goal on the counter attack from a corner, thanks to Devan McColl.
'I thought it was Usain Bolt going down the right-hand side when he broke away.
'He really should have squared it into the box from the position he was in, but he elected to shoot and, thankfully, it ended up in the back of the net.
'After that we were comfortable and I feel we should have picked them off for a third goal, but we'll take the win. I was really pleased with the performance.'
It was Rovers' second win in four games and saw them bounce back from a tough 4-0 defeat at Tranent the previous week.
Clark, whose side are up to seventh in the table, added: 'Tranent are a really good team and we did some good things against them last week. We eliminated a lot of the errors this week and managed to score a couple of goals, that's what football is about.
'There was a brilliant attitude from our young lads and we had great backing from our fans as well, so it was a happy place at full-time.'
Rovers now have a double-header coming up over the next week, with a home clash against Thorniewood in the first round of the South Challenge Cup this Saturday, followed by the visit of Broxburn Athletic on league business on Tuesday night.
