Gala Fairydean Rovers hoping to follow ’Shire’s example by heading up Scottish Lowland Football League table

Gala Fairydean Rovers losing 2-0 away to East Stirlingshire in Falkirk in October (Photo: Alan Murray)Gala Fairydean Rovers losing 2-0 away to East Stirlingshire in Falkirk in October (Photo: Alan Murray)
Gala Fairydean Rovers losing 2-0 away to East Stirlingshire in Falkirk in October (Photo: Alan Murray)
Gala Fairydean Rovers are hoping to take a leaf out of East Stirlingshire’s book when they host the Falkirk outfit at Netherdale this coming Saturday.

The last time the two sides met they were neighbours in the Scottish Lowland Football League, with manager Martin Scott’s Rovers second from bottom and opposite number Pat Scullion’s ’Shire only one place above them, but a 2-0 win for the hosts in October, thanks to goals from Chris Inglis and Lewis Latona, lifted them up two places to 14th, with Fairydean heading in the other direction and hitting the bottom of the table.

’Shire are now ninth, on 29 points from 25 fixtures, and that’s seven places and 11 points better off than third-from-bottom Fairydean, currently only two points clear of the relegation spot, having played three games more than basement side Broomhill.

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Winger Danny Galbraith, the Borderers’ captain for their penalty shootout Scottish Lowland Football League Cup win away to Cowdenbeath on Saturday gone after ending open play tied at 2-2, believes his side are capable of engineering a similar turnaround in their fortunes and he’s hoping to see them start this weekend.

Gala Fairydean Rovers losing 2-0 away to East Stirlingshire in October at the Falkirk Stadium (Photo: Alan Murray)Gala Fairydean Rovers losing 2-0 away to East Stirlingshire in October at the Falkirk Stadium (Photo: Alan Murray)
Gala Fairydean Rovers losing 2-0 away to East Stirlingshire in October at the Falkirk Stadium (Photo: Alan Murray)

“It was good to get a positive outcome at the weekend but we’re back to league action on Saturday and it’s a huge game for us,” said the 34-year-old.

“It’s certainly one we’re looking forward to but we’re under no illusions about how tough it’s going to be.

“When we played them earlier in the season, we’d been ahead of them and were only one place below them, and they beat us and went on a really good run, and before you knew it, they were well out of trouble, so they’re probably a good example to us of what can happen if you can string a few good results together, which has been our problem this season.

“It’s amazing how quickly you can jump up the league.”

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Galbraith is hopeful that a January recruitment drive overseen by Scott – signing former Stranraer forward Mo Adam and Edinburgh City midfielders Jake Rennie and Struan Mair, as well as bringing back ex-skipper Gareth Rodger following his release by Berwick Rangers in October – will give Rovers the boost they need to chart a course to safety and a 13th successive season in their fifth-tier league.

“There’ve been a lot of additions to the squad and certainly the numbers at training have been up significantly over the last few weeks,” he said.

“There’s certainly a lot of competition for places now and that’s a good thing as it means people are pushing each other to try and get into the team and that’s what we need if we’re going to pick up some much-needed wins.”

Kick-off at Netherdale on Saturday is at 3pm.

October’s loss on the road ended a season-long winning streak against ’Shire for Fairydean as they beat them home and away last campaign, by 2-0 at Netherdale in July 2023, courtesy of goals from Galbraith and Nicky Reid, and by 1-0 at the Falkirk Stadium the following February, with Galbraith on target again.

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