It has taken Stranraer striker Craig Malcolm five years to be an overnight success and after scoring six goals in six games, the 23-year-old is making his mark in The Scottish Football League after a false start on the other side of the country.
Malcolm started off in the east coast at Stark’s Park before dropping out of the senior game for five years and he has re-emerged in the west with a bang scoring in the first six games he played in. Some record books say five however, it is definitely six.
Malcolm talked through his career to date saying, “I played for Westwood Boys Club in East Kilbride when I was young and got picked up from there by Raith Rovers. I spent two years with them on a Youth Training Scheme and played in the first team.
“I started a couple of games and came off the bench what seemed hundreds of times and I did grab a goal against Ross County and I scored in a Fife derby against Dunfermline.”
Malcolm’s time at Raith was to end in disappointing fashion as he explained, “It came to a disappointing end when I went on holiday thinking I was getting a new deal but when I came back, there was nothing for me.
“I trained with Clyde after that when Graham Roberts was there but nothing happened and I decided I needed a break from the game.”
The striker was not idle however advising, “I took six months out before deciding I wanted to play again.
“I got myself a job as a Heating and Refrigeration Engineer and I am still doing that now working with my Dad.”
With his desire restored, Malcolm went back on the football pitch saying, “I decided to play Junior football for Johnstone Burgh and Neilston and that led to a trial at Carlisle United. I was not taken on but I then joined Arthurlie for three seasons and really enjoyed it.”
Malcolm was a quick hit when he returned to the game saying, “I scored early for Johnstone Burgh and that helped me settle down in the Junior game.
“Over time, I wanted to go senior again as I had been left thinking I did not do myself justice at Raith Rovers.”
The Stair Park side had been monitoring Malcolm’s progress although the deal took longer than the player or the club would have liked.
Malcolm explained, “Stranraer spoke to me a year ago and I was keen to join them but I was aged 22 and there would have been a transfer fee involved.
“I wanted to go there and some of that was down to the Assistant Manager, Stevie Aitken, playing with me at Arthurlie and so did Lee Sharp. I knew with those guys there that the training would be good and they would look after the players.
“When I turned 23 this year, there were a few clubs interested but I was delighted to go to Stair Park.”
Malcolm finally made his presence felt in the opening game against East Stirlingshire in The ALBA Challenge Cup although some rain did fall on his parade.
The striker said, “I scored our equaliser in that game but we have a striker called Stuart McColm and some reporters gave it to him. It might have been because our surnames are so similar but it was definitely my goal.
“It was good to score early again as I had done that at all the clubs I have played at.”
Scoring early is important to Malcolm who said, “Breaking your duck is great and to do it early at a new club is a real weight off your shoulders.
“Doing it helped make me feel I was ready for the senior game however, I wanted to score in the League to be sure.”
Malcolm missed out against Morton in the First Round of The Co-operative Insurance Cup the following week with an ankle knock however, he came back into things at Broadwood Stadium against Clyde when the League season kicked off.
Unfortunately for Stranraer, they started half an hour later than opponents Clyde and were staring a heavy defeat in the face.
Malcolm said, “We were two goals down early on and to be honest, it could have been more.
“Sean Winter, who played with me at Arthurlie, took advantage of a mistake by their goalkeeper to set me up for a goal before half-time and that got us going.”
Keith Knox’s side took advantage of their good fortune with Malcolm adding, “I managed to return the favour for Sean in the second half and we could have even gone on to win that game.
“We played Albion Rovers the next week and went behind twice. I scored the second equaliser and big Armand One got the winner.
“I was beginning to feel then that I was equipped for the senior game although as a team, we were starting slowly.
“We seem to need the Manager, Keith Knox, and Steve Aitken to shake us up at half-time to get going.”
Three goals in three games gave Malcolm confidence but he was honest enough to say, “I missed some decent chances in those games as well to be fair.”
Against Annan the next week, Stranraer did the opposite to what they have done in their other games this season as they started really well and then fell out of it.
Malcolm advised, “I got my third League goal of the season and my fourth overall and we went two up within ten minutes.
However, as a lot of people say, two nil is a funny lead and we started to sit too deep.
“Annan drew level and we could not get going again. By the end, we were hanging on a bit and we ended up with mixed emotions as a point was not too bad a result but we had been two ahead.”
Another slow start in the next game saw Elgin dominate however, they failed to turn their pressure into goals, even missing a penalty, and Stranraer made them pay.
The number nine said, “Romuald Bouadji gave us a great lift with a goal just before half-time and I scored in the second half.
“The long journey was far more worth it than it had looked at one stage.”
The following week, Malcolm struck in the third minute of injury time to turn one point into three points from The Blues’ home match with Queen’s Park.
Malcolm said, “Of my six goals, that is my favourite as I had played really poorly that day but stuck at things and got my reward. I made wrong choices throughout the entire game but I saved myself a slaughtering for being so poor.
“Sharpie put in a great cross and I put it away to make it six goals out of six.
“I have been told it is a club record and it would be nice if that is the case but on that day, it was even better just to get the three points.”
The most recent League match was another slow start and Stranraer found themselves a goal down but a penalty and the sending off of Berwick Rangers’ Steve Notman turned things around.
Malcolm said, “We got in front and I could not see them equalising however, Darren Gribben did really well to create the chance for Alan Brazil and to be honest, a draw was a fair result.
“We are still undefeated which is great but there is more to come from us as we have not played well for an entire game yet.
“Personally, I have not played my best yet either but if you asked me before the season started if I wanted six goals or playing well, I would have said give me the six goals.”
Again Malcolm’s honesty shines through as he said, “Individually and collectively, we are not consistent enough yet but I am sure it will come.”
Malcolm is enjoying the step up saying, “The pre-season friendlies were tough and it is a move up the way when you come to the SFL.
“It has been a bit of a challenge but I am enjoying it and as soon as one game is finished, I am really looking forward to the next one.”
Arbroath travel east to west this weekend and Malcolm reckons his side are in for a tough game saying, “They are one of the favourites for promotion but we are at home and our record at Stair Park is good.
“Hopefully, we can start fast and cut out sloppy mistakes. We need to go out and take the game to teams from now on.”
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