Dalbeattie Star gaffer claims he enjoyed side trailing to Lochmaben

Dalbeattie Star gaffer Eddie Warwick says he enjoyed seeing his team trailing to Lochmaben on Saturday.

The Islecroft side have blown many teams away this season but found themselves in the unusual position of being behind after Kieran Brown opened the scoring.

But Callum Summerbee equalised before Cammy Shaw struck just after the hour mark to seal Star’s progress to the next round of the Utility Hut South of Scotland Challenge Cup.

Warwick said: “I loved it because of the challenge.

“From our point of view it was a poor goal to lose. We’d had two or three chances then they sucker punched us at a corner. We restricted them to not too much after that, they didn’t pose us too many problems in attack and we created some good openings.

“Could we have scored another three or four? Possibly, but I enjoyed it being tight, being a bit of needle, being behind, drawing at half-time and having to deal with the situation.

“Taking everything into account it was a good day.”

Warwick continued with his policy of making changes for cup games to give game time to other members of his squad.

But he insists the players that came in didn’t have to prove a point to him and his coaching staff.

He said: There was big rotation with seven changes and the regulars on the bench, who got enough game time to keep their legs ticking over.

“I believe I’ve got about 16 starters in my 22 man squad. They don’t really need to force themselves into our plans or prove themselves they should be starting as we probably know, we have that many players who are good enough.

“Boys have given us food for thought but everyone knows how the squad works, there will always will be rotation.

“There’s no guarantees, boys aren’t losing faith