There were fireworks on and off the pitch at Hamish B Allan Stadium last week as Rutherglen Glencairn under-16s celebrated their perfect league title win.
The boys produced a sparkling performance to defeat rivals Larkhall Thistle 5-0 and proceeded to party with flares and fireworks after being presented with the U16 Lanarkshire Football Development Association Section B trophy.
Four goals from top scorer Connor Hannah and a solitary strike from Evan Gallagher made it 19 wins from 19 for the Glens youngsters, who had previously beaten Thistle 4-0 last month to put the league crown beyond their reach.
And after the team’s jubilant scenes, coach Alex Brown joked: “I think some of the boys have been watching too much of the ultras on the telly!
“There were a few flares and they let off some fireworks as well.
“The boys enjoyed a good wee night and to get a good win was a nice way to mark the presentation.
“One of our players Raasti broke his fasting to play in the game. It was a big thing for him because he’d been going for 20 days and broke it so he could play in the game. That’s how much it meant to him.
“We played Larkhall to win the league with a couple of games to spare and again on our presentation night, so that was good as well.”
For Alex it was also a perfect night to bow out as boss alongside manager Tony MacDonald and fellow coaches Martin Gallagher, Stuart Callaghan and Alan Dunsmure.
He added: “The team are moving up to an under-18 league from under-16 so that will be a bit of a step up for them.
“Myself and the coaches are giving it up after this season so it was good to go out on a high.
“We’ve still got one game to play but I’m not sure if we will get to play it, as our opponents might not be able to fulfil the fixture.”
Following their presentation night, Glens rounded off their season with a trip to Blackpool.
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