Airdrie Championship play-off celebration left me exhausted, admits hero Gabby McGill

Gabby McGill denies he scored the goal that effectively won the Championship play-off final for Airdrie against Hamilton – but that didn’t stop him from running 40 yards to celebrate.

McGill levelled the scores at 2-2 on aggregate in the last minute at New Douglas Park, forcing extra-time and a shoot-out which Airdrie won 6-5.

The coy English striker points out there were other heroes, like goalkeeper Josh Rae or captain Callum Fordyce.

But he says Airdrie will do their best to keep their form going into next season’s Championship.

He said: “A fair few people have been saying I scored the goal that effectively won the game, but looking back on the whole day there are a lot of ifs, buts and maybes.

“If Josh didn’t save that penalty, or if Dycey didn’t have many of his clearances or something like that.

“The game could have gone so differently, but I think for me, I can’t believe it was the 90th minute!

“You just get so caught up in the game, and after I scored, I asked the ref how long was left.

“He said ‘two minutes of added time’ and I thought ‘Jesus, that’s come at the right time’!

“After I made that 40-year run I regretted it instantly, because of the legs and the body, but it was an unbelievable feeling.”

McGill added: “It feels brilliant. To be able to get Airdrie into the Championship and have a right good crack at that league is brilliant.

“You’ve seen Queen’s Park this season, so who knows what’s going to come?

“We know we’ve got a job to do, just like we did this season. We’ll go into every game believing we can win it, and we’ll give it our best shot.”

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