Brora Rangers manager Steven Mackay believes pyramid play-off disappointment against East Kilbride will only fuel Highland League outfit to go further next season
Steven Mackay says Brora Rangers will come back next season hungrier to achieve promotion after falling at the semi final stage to East Kilbride.
The Cattachs drew 3-3 on the day against East Kilbride last Saturday, meaning they lost out 4-7 on aggregate in the pyramid play-offs.
It had looked for a while that Brora were in strong contention to progress, having gone 3-1 up on the day courtesy of Tony Dingwall, Alex Cooper and Shane Sutherland to reduce the aggregate deficit to a single goal.
However, East Kilbride immediately hit back, and a late goal meant that the spoils were shared at Dudgeon Park with the Lowland League champions booking their place in the final.
Mackay was proud of his side’s efforts, and insists the setback will only make his players more determined to go at least one step further next year.
“We’ve just come up short over the two games,” he told Brora Rangers’ media channel.
“We certainly didn’t come up short in the second leg. Our pride was dented last weekend, and we underperformed, so we asked the boys to go out there and restore a bit of pride by giving it a good go.
“They definitely did that. We had a mountain to climb, and we almost scaled to the summit but not quite.
“The third goal was a beautiful goal, really well-worked, and all the momentum was in our favour at that point. I just wish we had been able to hold on to that lead a little bit longer, because it would have been interesting to see how East Kilbride coped with that pressure.
“As it was, we gave a goal back to East Kilbride, but it would have been nice to maintain that momentum a little bit longer.
“It wasn’t to be, but I’m really proud of how the players performed. The fans should be proud as well, because the football we’ve had on display throughout the season has been beautiful to watch.
“They deserve a huge amount of credit for what they’ve achieved this season, but it’s just unfortunate we’ve fallen a little bit short in the play-offs.
“We’ll learn from it, and we’ll use that as fuel for next season when we’ll hopefully be back in this position.”
Even with the play-off disappointment, it has been a historic year for the Cattachs.
They became only the third side in history to win a domestic treble after claiming the Highland League, Highland League Cup and North of Scotland Cup.
Given a major turnover was required at Dudgeon Park last summer, Mackay is confident that – after a few weeks – memories of the 2024/25 campaign will be good ones.
“It’s probably not until the next few weeks that the boys will realise what they have achieved this season,” he added.
“We didn’t have a squad coming into pre-season last June. We had seven players plus Shane Sutherland, who wasn’t fit.
“To come from that point to where we are now, having won a treble and just falling short in the play-offs, the boys will be disappointed but eventually when we look back we will see it as a phenomenal success.
“This experience will make us hungrier for next season, but let’s concentrate on the boys getting a nice rest for now and we’ll go again next season.”
