As summer transfers go the arrival of Scott Maxwell at East Stirlingshire did not see more than a few column inches dedicated to it however, Shire fans have been singing the praises of the 21-year-old recently.
Maxwell, who looks one of the most naturally left sided players in the Third Division, had slipped through the SFL net until this season as he explained, “I had been with Dalkeith Juniors for four years, who are in the South Division which is the league below the top Division in the east of the country for Juniors. I had spent two years at St. Johnstone in their under-19 squad but never made it there and the manager at Dalkieth Willie Pearson always believed I could go back to a Senior level.”
With Pearson’s help Maxwell came under the eye of a number of coaches as he explained, “I spent a week training with Raith Rovers and spent this pre-season with Berwick Rangers. I played against Hamilton Accies, Hibs and a Newcastle United reserve side so it was a bit different from a Junior pre-season.”
“Nothing had been offered there and Shire’s head coach John Coughlin heard about me and arranged for me to play in a bounce game against Maryhill. He signed me pretty much straight away which was great.”
Maxwell made his debut in a 2-0 defeat from Peterhead on August 20 and since then, to use a topical phrase, he has taken to it like a duck to water with Maxwell saying, “I am really enjoying my football in the Third Division even though it is played at a much higher pace than I was used to.”
“John Coughlin has us playing a style where we look to close our opponents down at every opportunity and certainly our training is a lot more intense than I had before. I go to the gym most days as well so I am fitter than I was before I came.”
The Shire are virtually a new side this season and things had taken time to gel with Maxwell saying, “We had a difficult start as we lost quite a few games in a row but we have been better in recent weeks.”
Coughlin appeared to call it right when he said his youngsters needed experience to help them develop with Maxwell agreeing that the arrival of the on-loan Cowdenbeath mainstay Craig Winter a couple of weeks ago and he has made a huge difference.
“We have a group of good young talented players at the club,” said Maxwell before adding, “But Craig has actually played in more games than the rest of our squad put together. He keeps everything and everybody together by being very vocal and that has made us tighter at the back. He was stretchered off last week and we are hoping that he will be okay for Stranraer on Saturday.”
Maxwell started his East Stirlingshire career off in midfield however, he was moved to left back fairly quickly by Coughlin who has described his form at that position as ‘a revelation’ with Maxwell saying, “I was in the centre of midfield for 6 games but the boss asked me to go to left back. I was happy to do so as I had played there for a couple of seasons with Dalkieth and it is a case of so far, so good.”
As well as league matches Maxwell has also tasted action in the Scottish Cup this season for the first time and it has brought him differing emotions as he explained, “In the first game against Buckie at our place it ended really badly as we had two men sent off but thankfully Calum Antell saved an injury time penalty and we drew 1-1.”
“We went up there for the replay and got ahead two nil quite early but eventually had to settle for winning in extra time. The funny thing is that Joe Savage really got into the players after the first game for how they had let the club down in the dressing room afterwards through their indiscipline. He made a lot of good points but he got booked the next week for kicking the ball away and that was not missed by the boys.”
Maxwell added, “We have had a few silly sending offs and bookings but a lot of that is down to our inexperience. We are learning all the time and we know that we have to keep the head better if we are to climb the League.”
“That win at Buckie was really special to me as it was my first win ever at the Shire and only our second success of the season and that gave us a lot of confidence.”
The reward for that win was a trip to East Fife in the next Round however, that was not such a great day as the Fifers won 5-0 with Maxwell saying, “They were simply just too good going forward on the day and that was the difference.”
That result has been the Shire’s only reverse in their last four games with performances stabilising and draws being earned against Elgin and Alloa before there win over Annan.
Maxwell added, “They were the top three sides in the Division so we have to be pleased with that run. Beating Annan would have been a big shock to a lot of people as they have been top of the League all season. It would not have been expected and as the boss said we would have burst a lot of coupons with that result.”
Whilst turning the Shire around has not been a one man show bringing in Bradley Coyne on-loan from St. Mirren has worked out well as he has scored five times in eight games.
As well as Coyne’s goal scoring feats Maxwell has been impressed with Shire’s other SPL loan youngsters saying, “Our goals against column is not the best however, it would have been a lot worse had Calum Antell of Hibs not been between the sticks. The other player we got in from Easter Road, Lewis Horner has been great over the past month at breaking up our opponents play. He sits in our midfield and does a great job in stopping other teams from building up.”
Despite the youthful nature of the squad, and the SPL loan signings, as well as the temporary transfers in the way of Winter and Stenhousemuir’s Michael Hunter one thing that is established in the Shire ranks is a spirit with Maxwell saying, “The togetherness in the squad has been brilliant when you consider we lost for so many games running. The banter in the dressing room is great and we are a close group and we are already targeting Montrose in eighth place. If we can get another couple of wins people will really be looking over their shoulders at us.”
Weekend opponents Stranraer moved up to third place in midweek and the Blues are the latest side to come across Maxwell’s side when the teams meet at Stair Park this weekend.
Maxwell said, “I missed the game earlier in the season when they beat us 3-1 as I was on holiday but I have heard they are a strong side. They defeated Annan 3-0 during the week so it has tough game written all over it, but if we play like we have been playing we will do okay.”
The summer recruit has one burning ambition to satisfy since stepping up to the Senior ranks saying, “I have still to score my first goal for the Shire. I scored five for Dalkieth last season and hopefully if I can get one I will have the confidence to go on and get some more. It would be great to break my duck in this one.”
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