East Stirlingshire bounced back from losing their first league game of the season to retain top spot in League Two last Saturday when they defeated Clyde 2-1 and for striker Max Wright it was a fine day as he scored both of his side’s goals.
The Shire had opened their league campaign with wins over Queen’s Park, Elgin City and Stirling Albion before losing their perfect record when they went down 4-1 to Peterhead at Ochilview.
John Coughlin’s side, who have finished bottom of senior Scottish football for the last two seasons, showed that they could be in line for a higher position this year by bouncing back straight away and beating the Bully Wee in their next game.
Wright said: “Peterhead at home was a disappointing day especially as were one up at half time. We never got going in the second and ended up losing heavily as they ran over the top of us.”
“Broadwood was great as not only did we shrug off the Peterhead disappointment and win but I scored my first two goals of the season. They were both from a couple of yards out but I have been telling people they were from 30 yards. I will get found out when they see the footage.”
Wright’s route to being the Shire match-winner began 12 years ago at Rangers and it has involved a couple of stop offs on the way as he explained: “I was with Rangers from when I was 9 years old up until I was 18. I moved on to Alloa and was part of the squad that won the Third Division Championship in 2012. I played a few first team games that season and it was good to be involved with such a successful side.”
“I moved on to Stranraer at the start of last season and signed a 6 month deal with them after scoring a few goals in pre-season. I was mostly getting used as a substitute there so I left in January and joined the Shire.”
Wright continued: “I played three trial games and then signed for John. It has been a strange year as we started off not too badly and my first game as a signed player was ironically against Rangers at Ibrox. I came on as a substitute but it wasn’t my first game there.”
“When I was in the Youth sides there we would get to play games there towards the end of the season and we also played Youth Cup ties there as well. That was designed to make it easier for the players to handle when they made the step up to the first team.”
“It never happened for me but I did enjoy my time there.”
The Rangers game came at the end of a three game winning run, however the 3-1 defeat at the hands of the Light Blues was that start of a poor end to the 2012-2013 campaign that saw 10 games lost in a row.
Wright said: “Things went downhill quite quickly after that and we had a dreadful end to the season. Things just petered out and the last few games were very disappointing. We had a very young squad and I was probably the third oldest after Kevin Turner and David Greenhill.”
“The training games last year were not so much old guys versus the young guys as the young guys against the young, young guys. David is only 28 and Kevin is 26 and that shows how young we were. That made things hard in games especially when we went behind.”
The Shire changed things around in the summer as after two years of diligently paying off debts that had built up Coughlin was allowed to bring in players with a lot of game time under their belts.
Wright said: “Where we are now feels a lot better and I am now back in the young guys team at training. The signings the head coach made over the summer were all experienced players and they have given us a much more solid look.”
“We started the season off with a 3-1 win at Queen’s Park although I only lasted 10 minutes of that game as I picked up an ankle injury. I came back for the Elgin game and we won that one which was great as it was our first home game.”
The good times continued with Wright saying: “Stirling away was a tough challenge but we went there and won 3-1. I still had not scored but hit the post twice and the second time I did that Jordan McKechnie tapped the rebound home to score.”
The Clyde game was extremely meaningful to Wright and his team-mates as he explained: “We were winning and then lost a goal as we had done against Peterhead. In a situation like that last season we could have gone on to lose the game as our heads would have dropped as we thought here we go again.”
“We might have held out for a draw but we would not have won it.”
The summer recruits in the shape of Ross O’Donoghue, Chris Townsley, Michael Bolochoweckyj and Iain Thomson are proving their worth with Wright saying: “That is where the experienced players have made a difference. They talk to everyone for the full game and they don’t just talk about doing things as they stand up to be counted as well. Their actions make you want to step up your game and not let them down.”
Wright also had praise for his skipper Turner as he explained: “I am off and running now with scoring goals and want to build on that. I play up front alongside Kevin and we are really a pair of opposites.”
“He is very strong whereas I am, well not so strong, and the big guy looks after me. If anyone is looking to give me a rough time Kevin will make sure I am okay. His work rate is incredible and he will do anything for his team-mates including turning out at centre-half.”
“It is great to have him in our team.”
“I am enjoying this season and you cannot do any better than be at the top of the league. That is where you want to be but I am not going to say we are going to do this or do that as there a lot of good teams in this league.”
Having got off the mark Wright was asked what his target was for the season and he said: “I have not set myself any targets at the moment and I won’t for the first few months of the season. Hopefully I can keep scoring and the team can keep winning. Maybe I will set myself something come January.”
Playing is proving enjoyment enough as Wright explained: “I am enjoying playing every week as that is when you learn about the game. When you are part time and only training twice a week playing in games is a really big thing. That is where you improve your game so that is a big reason for me to keep playing.”
Next up for the Shire is Albion Rovers with Wright saying: “We are at home this weekend to a good side. I played against them for Stranraer in the Second Division last season and a good few of their players are still there. Kevin Nicoll is also there and I know he is a really strong competitor and is tough to play against.”
Craig Stewart
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