East Kilbride Thistle boss Alan Paterson has paid tribute to tragic St Roch’s coach Paul Kelly, and says football comes second.
The Glasgow club were granted a postponement of Saturday’s West of Scotland League Conference C clash with Thistle after Mr Kelly sadly passed away last week.
While Paterson was on nodding terms with his dug-out opponent, he says the impact he had on the game at West of Scotland League level was obvious from tributes others paid.
Paterson said: “I only had dealings with Paul in the dug-outs and stuff like that, but really only just to say ‘all right’ to.
“It was the correct decision; I think his boy is the assistant manager and his two nephews play in the team.
“I was reading a lot of what people said about him though and he was a well thought-of man.
“The tributes came from far and wide as well, he must have put a lot into football, because there were a lot of people saying nice things about him, not just from St Roch’s.
“His death must have affected a lot of people.
“In that instance football comes second, we were happy to respect St Roch’s as a club in mourning and we’ll play it further down the line.”
That postponement meant Paterson gave his players the weekend off, just to get a breather after what has been a hectic schedule since he took the reins.
The club are now preparing for a home clash against Yoker Athletic, and Paterson expects a repeat of their ‘ding-dong’ cup tie earlier this season – though hopefully with his side coming out on top.
Paterson said: “We had been carrying a few knocks and we gave them Saturday and Monday off, just to try and get everybody back on the training field so we have a full squad to choose from.
“Hopefully everybody’s back training on Wednesday, we can recharge the batteries and get going again, because it has been hectic since we came in.
“We’re trying to run before we can jog, and this has given us a wee bit of a break to put our stamp on what we want to do, going forward.
“It has been 100mph since we came in, the games have been coming thick and fast.
“We’ve got Yoker on Saturday; we played them in the Junior Cup but we haven’t played them in the league yet, the first game was postponed because of heavy rain.
“I actually thought in the last game the two teams were evenly-matched and we were in it, but then we shot ourselves in the foot.
“It has the makings of a good game, they’re very similar in style to the way we play, and it was a right good ding-dong cup tie.
“The better team won on the day. We played well in spells but they were ruthless while we weren’t, so they are a good side and I don’t think they get the credit they deserve.
“Any time I’ve watched them I’ve been impressed, but now they’re not an unknown quantity and it should have the makings of a good game.”
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