Dalbeattie Star boss urges players not to let season "fizzle out" after Gala defeat

Dalbeattie Star boss Ritchie Maxwell has urged his players not to let the season “fizzle out”.

Star went down 2-1 to Gala Fairydean Rovers at Islecroft on Saturday after a disappointing display in difficult conditions.

And Maxwell said: “I thought we were pretty flat. We’re in a position we’ve not been in the last couple of seasons where, coming into the last third of the season, we’re safe but we’re not sitting at the top of the league either.

“We’re in the mid section and I think the important thing is we make sure we maintain the players’ focus and motivation.

“We don’t just want to let the season fizzle out. We have targets and want to make sure we reach those targets.”

Gala scored early in the second half thanks to Ross Aitchison’s tremendous goal before Ryan Muir quickly restored parity.

The decisive moment came 20 minutes from the end with Scott Cusick bagging the winner as Gala triumphed at Islecroft for the fourth game running.

Maxwell said: “It wasn’t a great spectacle from either team and conditions obviously played a massive part in that.

“Both teams were pretty direct. There were a lot of mistakes. “Their first goal was an unbelievable strike from distance and I think the first goal was always going to be important with the way the game was panning out.

“We managed to get ourselves an equaliser when Ryan Muir scored a really good goal but the winning goal is disappointing from our perspective.

“We lost possession in the middle of the park, our goalie Darren Holt has come out and collided with their striker and the second boy has tapped it in.

“It was a really disappointing performance from our perspective. I thought it was a good opportunity to get another three points and cement our place in the top 10 and put some distance between us and the teams below us but unfortunately we didn’t take it.”

Motivation shouldn’t be an issue for Star’s players tomorrow night when they hit the road to take on Rangers’ youngsters.

They’ll be looking for a repeat of their display in November when they took a shock 2-0 win.

Maxwell added: “The good thing about the league we’re in is every game is a big game. With Rangers and Celtic B teams there’s a wee bit of extra incentive.

“The last time we played Rangers we were on the back of a couple of defeats and we go into this one on the back of a defeat on Saturday so there’s no greater motivation than the opportunity to perform well and get a result off one of the Old Firm.”

• Star’s game against Rangers B will take place on Friday night at Dumbarton. Kick-off 8pm.

A venue for Wednesday night’s South of Scotland Challenge Cup encounter with Lochmaben is to be confirmed.