St Peter’s boss Paul McTaggart admits it’s a “huge blow” to see star striker Scott Lewis snapped up by St Cadoc’s.
The prolific forward has helped fire the Paisley lads up the Division 4 table, with the Glenburn-based side now within touching distance of the top two – Kilsyth Athletic and Finnart.
But his fine form hasn’t gone unnoticed, with established Conference B side St Cadoc’s swooping in to lure the 26-year-old.
While McTaggart is disappointed to see his talented striker leave, he insists he’ll never hold an ambitious player back with St Cadoc’s pushing for promotion into the West of Scotland Football second tier next season.
McTaggart told Express Sport: “We’re really disappointed to see Scott go.
“St Cadoc’s came in with a bid that we initially knocked back. They came back in with a better offer and Scott decided he wanted to try it.
“He’s always said he wanted to move up the leagues, he’s an ambitious boy. At 26 now he feels this is his best shot and I’ve always said I wouldn’t hold him back.
“He was loving it here and has been incredible for us so far this season. We wish him all the best and he’ll always be welcome back at the club.
“It’s a huge blow to lose him, but it’s also not the be-all and end-all. We’ve won games when he’s been out injured or suspended and we’re coming to the end of the season. Mcauley McAthur is back from injury soon having spent six weeks out with an ankle injury, so that will be a boost up front.
“We will be looking to go and bring in a quality replacement for Scott though because he was getting a hell of a lot of goals for us.”
It’s been a case of one in, one out for St Peter’s this week with the Paisley club bringing experienced centre back Scott Paterson in from Greenock
Juniors.
McTaggart hopes he will help solidify his side’s defence, especially heading into a crucial clash with joint-top side Kilsyth tomorrow afternoon.
He said: “Scott has been with Greenock for the last three years and they didn’t want to let him go.
“He was looking for a change though and I’m delighted to bring him in.
“We actually tried to get him at the start of the season but we couldn’t get the deal done then. He’s an experienced, calm head at the back and it’s a boost to get him in ahead of the trip to
Kilsyth.
“They are flying at the moment so we need to be right on it from the first whistle. We’re on a good run ourselves but our last few games have been postponed because of the weather.
“Hopefully we can finish this year on a high by beating Kilsyth and bring ourselves even closer to them in the table.”
The Kilsyth clash is St Peter’s last game of 2021, with the winter break kicking in immediately afterwards.
McTaggart revealed he’ll be giving his players the entire festive period off to ensure they don’t miss out on any Christmas
celebrations.
He added: “There is a concern with the way the covid numbers are going that we’ll be put off again early next
year.
“We’ve decided to stop training after this weekend to ensure that nobody picks it up next week, because that could put them out of Christmas and New Year celebrations.
“It’s really important that the boys get the time with their families so we’ll be as safe as we can be to help with that.”
