Five best Scottish lower league players this week

There’s a place for Falkirk’s hat-trick hero, the lynchpin of the League One league leaders, and a hero from the game of the weekend.
John Baird netted another hat-trick at the weekend. Picture: Michael GillenJohn Baird netted another hat-trick at the weekend. Picture: Michael Gillen
John Baird netted another hat-trick at the weekend. Picture: Michael Gillen

1. John Baird (Falkirk)

“THE BAIRD, THE BAIRD, THE BAIRD IS ON FIRE.” isn’t a song that Falkirk fans sing, and little wonder seeing as a) we’ve just made it up and b) it’s pretty lame. However, if the Falkirk fans decided to give it a bash some Saturday they’d be well within their rights, as their on-fire front-man is currently enjoying the purplest of patches, with his three goals against Alloa his second hat-trick in just four games.

Alloa boss Danny Lennon labelled his side’s performance as it’s worst of the season, a bold statement considering they’re absolutely honking most Saturdays.

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The win lifted Falkirk to just a point behind Hibernian, and while the presence of both they and Rangers might mean Falkirk’s season stays at good, rather than great, John Baird looks on for his best personal season to date.

2. David Gormley (Clyde)

Fair play to Barry Ferguson. With his Clyde team starting to show signs of revitalisation, perhaps we should stop thinking of the gaffer as someone whose sole contribution to football is his excellent Daily Record column which features some smokin’ hot takes on Glasgow Rangers Football Club.

Saturday’s 4-2 win over Elgin City was undoubtedly the Bully Wee’s finest display of the season. Indeed, so impressive was the victory it was difficult to single out anyone in particular, but while Scott Ferguson and Jon Paul Mcgovern put in fine shifts, it was David Gormley, with his finest performance in a white shirt to date, who gets the nod.

Two assists and a goal is a fine return from a player who at times has struggled since leaving Auchinleck Talbot, and he deserves a special mention for his final assist, which saw him run a distance that would have left even Forrest Gump puggled out.

3. Denny Johnstone (Morton)

Can anyone stop Duffy’s Dreadnoughts? That’s the discussion amongst the picturesque Greenock coffee-shops and bistros as Morton made it four wins on the trot with a one-sided 2-0 win over the Dumfries Disappointments.

Denny Johnston was the man supplying the goals, and while his all-action, rambunctious brand of play has won admirers since joining on-loan from Birmingham City, his end product has, until recently, been called into question.

However, with Saturday’s brace making it five goals in four matches, Johnstone may just be the man who can nudge Morton from mid-table irrelevancies to play-off contenders.

4. Jamie Adams (Ayr United)

These are heady days for Ayr United. Saturday’s 1-0 win over Albion Rovers made it 13 league games unbeaten as they remain a point clear at the top-of-the-table, sticking it to Dunfermline Athletic in the process.

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At the heart of that run has been Jamie Adams, who, when he isn’t busy trolling Stranraer fans, is assuming the thumping heart-beat of the Honest Men.

Once more on Saturday, he was involved in most things; breaking up play, keeping possession, breaking forward when possible and winning more than his fair share of things in the air. Traits that were invaluable as the performance of the side overall on Saturday rarely rose above mediocre in a match where Albion Rovers could count themselves a trifle unfortunate.

League One’s big two face off twice in the next few weeks. It should be a pair of fascinating contests.

5. Pat Slattery (East Fife)

With 11 goals already to his name this season, Nathan Austin has predominantly hogged the headlines when it comes to East Fife this term. However, it was a player whose indomitable hard-work can often be under-appreciated in Pat Slattery who was the Fife’s top performer on Saturday.

The wide man was already having a fine match, before restoring the Fife’s lead after Reece Donaldson had briefly made the score-line 3-3 with 25 minutes remaining.

If East Stirling manager Craig Tully thought he was having a bad weekend, that was nothing compared to the East Fife highlight producer, who had to whittle down 90-plus minutes of drama into seven minutes.

• Read the full top 10 over at the Terrace Podcast website