Scotland’s game of the day takes place this weekend in the north of the country as First Division leaders Ross County host second placed Falkirk. With only three defeats between them in the League all season and only a two goal swing required to put the Bairns top and County second, it would be fair to say that this game is shaping up as an intriguing encounter.
One player keen to play his part is IRN-BRU SFL Phenomenal Joint Player of the Month for October, Falkirk centre back Darren Dods, who is relishing his role as the elder statesmen in what is not just a youngish but a very young Bairns team.
Dods said: “It is amazing to think of how good things are just now because at the start of the season, there was player after player leaving and we then played our first League game at Raith Rovers and lost.
“We have only been defeated once in the League since, have beaten Rangers and Dundee United to reach a Scottish Communities League Cup Semi-Final against Celtic and have a Ramsdens Cup Final to look forward to in April against Hamilton.”
Dods, who has given sterling service to Hibernian, St. Johnstone, Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Dundee United in a near 20 year playing career, may have talked about having a successful season when he sat down with Falkirk Manager Steven Pressley to discuss his summer move however, the route to what has been achieved so far never featured in his chat.
“I knew there would be a few players leaving Falkirk,” said Dods before adding, “but they were in for other targets and the plan was to have four or five experienced professionals at the club. Tam McManus was in training as was goalkeeper Robert Olejnik in pre-season so it looked like everything was in place however, they moved on.
“Farid El Alagui did come in and then the goalkeeper Michael McGovern joined so that brought experience back in but then things certainly changed.”
The turnaround was massive with Dods saying: “I was expecting fewer players to go and more to come in but it ended up that 18 players in total left the club during the summer. Farid, Michael and I came in and that was it and it was decided to go with the youths.
“I was just forming friendships and settling in to training routines with the likes of Marc Twaddle, Ryan Flynn and Marc Stewart and they all left as the club looked to reduce its wage bill. The faces I trained with just seemed to get younger and younger as the guys I was working with initially were in their early 20s, then it became late teens and then we had 16 and 17-year-olds training with us.”
Everyone adapted quickly with Dods saying: “The results in pre-season were not great but I have to give credit to the Manager, Alex Smith and Lee Bullen, who has just left recently, as these young players have all been coached well over several years. They can go on and have great careers.”
There are some well established guys like Tam Scobbie but by and large, my team-mates nowadays stay at home with their mums who wash their kit and make sure they bring it in nicely ironed.”
Kieran Duffie, Murray Wallace, Craig Sibbald and Jay Fulton are going into games in the same manner as they did at Under-19 level although having so many young players around sees Dods look to pass on his experience during games.
He explained: “I have qualified up to UEFA B Coaching level just now and undertook training on my A Licence during the summer but my aim is to keep playing for as long as I can. I take my experience out onto the pitch with me as a player not as a coach and I try to pass that on to the players during a game.”
The move to Falkirk has given Dods a new lease of life as he said: “Despite the unsettling start, I am really enjoying being here. It has given me a new challenge which is just what I needed after missing a lot of last season with Dundee United through injury.
“I went back to Tannadice in the last round of The Scottish Communities League Cup and got a great welcome. We got a great result by winning after a penalty shoot-out and whilst they have undergone a lot of change as well, there were five guys in the Dundee United team that have won Scottish Cup winners' medals so it really was a remarkable result.”
With one Cup Final place and one Cup Semi-Final place secured, Dods is delighted that The Bairns have gone off plan as he explained: “We were hoping to get through a few rounds of both cup competitions but we had tricky Draws in the First Round. We had Brechin away in The Ramsdens Cup and then Albion Rovers the following week in The Scottish Communities League Cup.
“We beat Brechin but were struggling against Albion with the score tied at 1-1 and the game could have gone either way before we won 4-2. Winning both of these games gave us confidence.”
Since then and the opening League defeat in Kirkcaldy, Falkirk have seen off Partick Thistle, Dundee, Hamilton Academical, Queen of the South, Raith Rovers and Livingston as well as drawing with Ayr United, Ross County, Livingston and Partick Thistle and suffering their only other defeat against Morton at Cappielow.
Stenhousemuir, Rangers and Dundee United have been knocked out of The Scottish Communities League Cup with Dundee, East Fife and Annan Athletic conquered on their way to The Ramsdens Cup Final and it is little wonder that Dods and crew are heading to Dingwall with confidence.
Dods said: “This should be a great game although I would imagine it will be quite a tight affair as neither side has been losing many goals recently. They have won six games in a row and it has been hard to hear when you come off the pitch having won your game that they have won again too.
“I was with their great rivals Inverness Caledonian Thistle for three seasons and played at Victoria Park in pre-season games for Caley as well as in First Division games for St. Johnstone. I usually get a fairly decent reception so I will need to see how it goes this time.”
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