Carluke Rovers co-boss Paul Davies admits there was a huge edge to the game as they finished their West of Scotland League Conference B campaign with a 4-1 win over old club Newmains United.
Dillan Duddy bagged a hat-trick, adding to Connor Cowan’s opener, with Newmains boss Davie Menelaws scoring a consolation for the hosts.
Having left Newmains and subsequently taken over at Rovers alongside Craig Gupwell, Davies admits he wasn’t looking forward to the clash, but is glad to put it behind him.
Davies said: “It was really good, everything went to plan, to be honest.
“We’ve been working with the group for a few weeks, trying to lay out our ideas of how we want to play and they did really well and carried it out.
“There was a huge edge to it, with me and Craig being there previously, because we had obviously left the club.
“It was a fixture that, if I’m being totally honest, I wasn’t particularly looking forward to, but that’s it done, dusted and out the way, and it makes it a lot easier for the next time.”
With the season finished for Rovers, Davies says he and Gupwell will keep the players together for a few weeks, to avoid a lengthy lay-off, and it also allows them to start planning.
He said: “That’s our season finished now, but we are going to continue for the next four or five weeks.
“We don’t want to bring it to a halt just now, when other teams have maybe four or five games still to go, and then it’s too big a lay-off, because I believe the league is due to go back in the first week of July.
“I want to keep the guys together, give us a chance to work on stuff, maybe get one or two friendlies, and then we’ll finish up for a couple of months and then get back to it.
“That also allows us to go out and watch games, teams and players, and stuff like that, over the next few weeks.”
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