Gartcairn held to a draw on opening day, but boss can't fault depleted squad

Gartcairn boss Mick Dunlop insisted he couldn’t fault his depleted side for their efforts, as they had to settle for a point on the opening day of the new West of Scotland League Premier Division season.

The Airdrie outfit played host to Largs Thistle on Saturday and came out of it with a 1-1 draw after Scott Stevenson’s first half strike was cancelled out by Jamie Martin’s effort for the visitors seven minutes from time.

Dunlop was missing a host of players in the midfield area so he was still pleased to come out of it with a point, in their first game in the top flight following last season’s promotion from the First Division.

Dunlop said: “I think there will be a lot of clubs in a similar position at this points with guys being away on holiday still, suspensions and injuries.

“I’m not one for talking about these kinds of things and making excuses, but when you take seven guys out of your squad of 19 – and we were very limited in terms of what we could bring in and bring on, because we had our under-20s on the bench – it didn’t make my job any easier when I was looking to change how the game was going.

“But that is why you’ve got a squad and I can’t knock the guys at all.

“They gave us everything and we got a good point in the end.

“Although I didn’t think we played well in possession of the ball, big Jack [McIlveen] has had one chance in the second half where he could have put us 2-0 up.

“But I don’t think you could argue, over the course of the whole game, that Largs didn’t deserve a draw.

“It was a tough game and Largs had a fair chunk of the ball, making us work hard.

“But our guys battled well and I think it is a good point for us.”

Speaking to the club media, Dunlop was asked about making the step up and believes