Cumbernauld Colts secure Lowland safety with final day win as boss hails 'magnificent' display

Daily Record

24-04-2025

Cumbernauld Colts are celebrating after securing their place in the Lowland League with a final day win over high-flyers Linlithgow Rose. John Doyle's side could have found themselves in a relegation play-off if they had lost at Broadwood, but they produced a fine showing to grab a 2-0 win, thanks to a Callum Wilson double. The win lifted them up to 14th, a point clear of nearest rivals Gretna 2008 and Berwick Rangers, while it is Gala Fairydean Rovers, two points back, who occupy the play-off spot at the end of the campaign. And Doyle said: 'It is a relief for everybody involved. 'We could have found ourselves in a play-off, so it was an excellent feeling at the final whistle, and the scenes were brilliant as well. 'We had our player of the year awards after it so it made for a far better night all round. 'A point would have done us but to go and do a wee bit extra is great because it pushes us up a few places. 'Linlithgow have beaten Caledonian Braves and EK in the last few weeks so that shows you how big a result it is. They went with a strong team and we knew we had to be on it. 'The guys were magnificent to a man. We limited them to few chances and took ours when they came along. 'I know [Rose boss] Gordon Herd well and he did us a turn earlier in the season by allowing us to take Liam Allison on loan so that massively helped us out.' Doyle was only appointed in January following the resignation of David Proctor and then Craig Malcolm earlier in the campaign. The club was bottom of the pile at that time and Doyle hopes they can come back stronger next term He said: 'I went into the job knowing there was a chance we could go down, so it was something of a longer-term thing for me. 'Staying in the division is the big thing and we'll hope to kick on next season.'