Andrew Banks looking to get Golspie Sutherland back in trophy contention after kicking off second spell as boss with dominant victory
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Andrew Banks is determined to bring the glory days back to Golspie Sutherland in his second spell as manager.
The 34-year-old joiner from Wick guided the King George V Park outfit to league title success in 2018/19 while winning the North Caledonian Cup in 2017 in a four-year stint in charge up to November 2020.
There was certainly an encouraging start for Golspie in Banks’ first game back, with an 8-2 battering of St Duthus in Tain announcing the new regime’s intent.
Explaining why he took a three-year break from the game, Banks said: “I had other things going on in my life, so I stepped back.
“I’ve been totally away from football and wasn’t really missing it for a long time. I never applied for the post, but the club phoned to ask if I’d be interested and that got me thinking. I said I would think about it, but what I really meant was I’d ask my missus what she thought about it!
“The club is built for success and has been used to success. The committee and people around the club are all good people, and hopefully we can deliver some for the club.”
Memories of previous battles with Tain and past managerial adversary Stuart Ross had Banks on alert for a difficult match, but he was blown away by the players’ response.
“We got off to a really good start, which is what we’d talked about before the game – starting on the front foot and putting them under pressure early,” he said.
“They kind of collapsed and we just kept scoring. It was quite unbelievable.
“For a team that has been struggling recently, Golspie certainly never showed signs of it on Saturday.”
The win took Golspie up a couple of places to eighth in the table and they can leapfrog tomorrow’s hosts Orkney if they win on the island this weekend.
“We’re certainly going up there looking for the three points,” Banks said. “Three boys got two goals against Tain – Miller Mackay, Robbie Murray and my brother Martin. Martin will be a big player for us going forward. Like me, he hasn’t been involved in winter football for a while, but I’m glad to get him back involved.”
