By Dylan Inglis
Paul Davies has hailed a massive week for Newmains after landing a derby win and a cup comeback.
United hadn’t triumphed in their opening 12 West of Scotland League fixtures.
But after an impressive midweek 2-1 victory at local rivals Carluke Rovers they made it two in a row by edging out Abby Vale 4-3 in a pulsating South of Scotland Cup clash.
Co-boss Davies said: “It’s been a big week for us – that’s now three games undefeated which is quite a nice feeling.”
On Tuesday United led 2-0 at the John Cumming Stadium through Michael Barton and skipper Marc Howson.
Rovers defender Douglas Frame pulled one back from a corner before United’s Kris Jarvie saw red after two yellow cards in ten seconds.
The home side piled on the pressure but a stubborn visiting defence stood firm to take a well-earned three points back down the A73.
Davies said: “The win against Carluke was a really good team performance. Carluke made it difficult but I thought to a man we were outstanding.
“I felt we were in control throughout but at half-time we made sure the players knew Carluke would come out of the traps.
“We knew we were going to have to dig in and defend more and that’s exactly what the boys did.
“We had real quality on the ball and that made it difficult for Carluke. Mark McQuade was outstanding at left wing-back but in I couldn’t pick a man of the match.
“Our captain Marc Howson was another who was brilliant – he controlled the game and showed real composure. He was excellent as was every man on the park.”
United then found themselves 2-0 down after 27 minutes at South of Scotland side Vale in Dumfrieshire on Saturday.
A Ryan Clougherty double levelled the game but Abby led again before strikes from Jamie Henderson and 17-year-old Dylan Buchanan saw them through to the third round.
Davies added: “There was no expectation on us going down there.
“To go 2-0 down early on was hard but the boys showed the same kind of fight and determination they did against Carluke.
“At half-time the reaction was excellent – they really showed some fight by digging in the way they did.
“In the last three games we’ve come from behind and shown a real resilience and belief. Sometimes when things are going against you teams don’t have that but at the moment we do.”
Newmains face a crunch league tie with Dalry Thistle at Victoria Park this Saturday. Entry is priced at £5 for adults, £2.50 for OAPs and FREE for under 16s.
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