Pollok goal hero Stuart McCann has dedicated his wonderstrike that KO’d Annan in Monday’s Scottish Cup thriller to team mate Dylan Dykes who is battling cancer.
McCann’s 62nd minute screamer turned out to be the difference in a sensational seven-goal ding-dong at Newlandsfield as the West of Scotland League club dumped their SPFL rivals 4-3. Pollok are now looking forward to a pay day away to Championship high fliers Ayr United in the third round.
And McCann was eager to pay tribute to his team mate Dykes - who watched the cup cracker from the terraces days after revealing his cancer diagnosis to team mates. The 26-year-old former Rangers youth player started treatment earlier this month and Lok players donned T-shirts emblazoned with ‘Get Well Soon Dylan’ during the warm-up to Monday’s live televised clash.
And McCann said: “That goal was for Dylan. It’s one of the best goals of my career, maybe the most important, so that’s for him.
“His news was totally unexpected and the boys are all right behind him. He’s a brilliant character, one of the nicest boys you could meet, and a fighter so we know he’s going to be okay.
“We only found out about his diagnosis last week after we played Kilwinning and he had actually came on as a sub in the game. After the match he put in the chat saying he had cancer. He’s been up at games and training to stay involved and the boys are 100 per cent behind him. We want to support him in any way we can.”
McCann is in his fifth season at the tier six Glasgow club and admits Monday was one of the biggest 90 minutes of his life. The 25-year-old forward is just relieved his parents managed to record his magic moment off the telly - as he’s got no broadband after moving house.
McCann’s top corner strike seemed to put Lok on easy street at 4-1 after goals from Shaun Fraser, Darren Christie and Fraser Mullen. But Annan hit back with two goals to make the last 10 minutes a nerve-shredder.
McCann added: “It was a crazy game. Absolutely brilliant. We started well with the early goal but when Annan equalised I was worried our heads might go down.
“That never happened and Daz came up with a wonder goal at the perfect time just before the break before we stretched ahead. There were a few cracking strikes to be fair. We’ve certainly got a few boys that like to have a dig and thankfully I’ve managed to pop up with one that’s turned out to be the winner.
“I got a bit lucky because their boy slipped. But I’ve seen the chance and just turned and hit it. I never meant it to go in the top corner to be fair! It was just a case of getting a clean strike on it flew into the top bag.
“Thankfully mum and dad recorded it because I’ve just moved house and I’ve still to get my broadband and all that sorted! But it’s there for keeps and I’ll just have to make sure nobody deletes it now.
“This was as good a night as I can remember at Pollok. It’s always special under the lights.”
Ayr might be another step up in levels but McCann insists nobody should write off Murdy McKinnon’s Lok. He said: “It’s a cup tie so anything can happen. The beauty of it is that we can just go into the game and enjoy it.
“Nobody expects us to win but we’ll give it 100 per cent and we’ll see what happens. Auchinleck won there three years ago so you never know.”
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