Armadale Thistle boss Derek Strickland conceded his side's East of Scotland Conference X promotion hopes are over after they let a two goal lead slip to Whitburn at the weekend, writes Callum McCormack.
Goals from Thomas Murphy and Stuart MacLeod put the Dale two goals up but a late double from Darren Liddell meant it was honours even at Volunteer Park, a result Strickland admitted was fair.
He said: "I think we needed to win. We’re now out of the championship race and I think we’re out of the promotion race.
“The boys have done great and it would be a shame if it just petered out. But probably at the end of the day we’ve just fell short a wee bit, but we just need to re-group ourselves then look at next season.”
He added: "I thought it was a right good local derby, tackles flying in, referee missing things. It was a typical derby with two teams that are up there challenging for things.
“Crowd wise it made for a good game but, for me as a manager, I didn’t think we played well enough. We didn’t get the ball down, I think we got caught up in the occasion.
“Going 2-0 up, I didn’t think we played that well but we got ourselves in front and I thought we should have seen the game out better. It’s not an excuse, but I had four players missing. Overall probably a draw was a fair result in the end”.
The Thistle boss did have praise for the crowd at Volunteer Park though, with an announced 605 in attendance providing a great derby day atmosphere.
He said: “It was fantastic. It just shows you for West Lothian, and two clubs, the pulling power is there. For 605 people to turn out has been excellent, and I think that’s a credit to the people of Whitburn and the people of Armadale”.
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