JOHNSTONE Burgh’s Niall Herron has finally been able to get his hands on the West Region League Two trophy that he captained his side to last year.

But Boss Jamie McKim was gutted it was just his Skipper that could be there.

The Keanie Park side were on course to romp towards the title last season by winning 13 out of 14 league games before Covid brought a halt to proceedings with average points per game determining the Burgh as Champions. 

Current guidelines meant that there could be no formal trophy presentation with the full squad in front of fans.

And McKim revealed he can’t wait for the day when his players can enjoy their achievement properly. 

He told Gazette Sport: “It’s a bittersweet moment because when the trophy is getting presented you want all the players there that have earned it. 

“The boys put in a great effort last season. 

“All their efforts in training and in games was outstanding and obviously winning 13 games out of 14 was a huge effort. 

“They all deserve to be there but with the current guidelines it’s unfortunate we can only have Niall there. 

“I’m looking forward to a time we can actually celebrate it properly because with everything I seen the players put in last year, they deserve a day to
celebrate and a day to reward for their efforts in front of the supporters that came to watch them every week.” 

Burgh returned to full contact training on Tuesday night after the latest
Scottish Government guidelines meant teams could take part in sessions with no social distancing required. 

Clubs across the country were temporarily ordered to stop meeting up after
guideline breaches from Scottish Premiership sides Aberdeen and Celtic.

But last Thursday’s announcement has paved a way for a return to the training field. 

McKim was delighted to be back and added: “This will be the first real step of getting back to normality for the players and for ourselves so we’re happy to be getting back to it.” 

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