Dalbeattie Star aim for second South of Scotland League title in a row

Dalbeattie Star are aiming to become the first club for a decade to retain the South of Scotland League.

Star won the title last term – their first season in the division following their relegation from the Lowland League.

Now, boss Eddie Warwick wants his team to become the first to win the title two years running since Wigtown and Bladnoch in 2014/15.

He said: “It’s extremely difficult to retain the title and it hasn’t been done for many years.

“We’ll give it our best shot and hopefully we get the praise and respect we deserve for trying to achieve that.

“We had a two or three year project and we went for the type of players willing to commit to us long term.

“I admire and respect the loyalty shown by the players who decided to stay and kept their word.

“They had no reason to leave, they’ve enjoyed it and been successful and want to try the super difficult task to retain the title.

“A lot of people raised eyebrows last season that our objectives were top four and a couple of finals. I can’t say that now because we’re league champions, so I’m not going to say we’re going to come down the way.

“We will be looking to be as close as possible to the top end of the table.”

Star begin their season at home to Newton Stewart on Saturday, then face Abbey Vale on Tuesday before going to last season’s runners-up Creetown a few days later.

Warwick admitted: “It’s a hell of a start and I think Newton Stewart and Creetown would probably say the same.

“If things don’t go quite the way you want early doors, there is time to make it back up. You can get your feelers out early doors to see what each other has and how far off you are or how close you are.

“There will be a lot of competition this year and I think