Newtongrange player hails manager after Scotland call-up

Gielty played for Scotland in a warm-up match against Glencairn earlier in the week after his performances for Newtongrange Star this season had caught the eye of Keith Burgess, the international team manager.

His selection is the latest feather in the cap of the Midlothian side and midfielder Gielty says the success being achieved by both himself Newtongrange at the moment is all down to one man. "It comes from the manager," he said. "Graeme Armstrong has been the biggest influence by far on my career and I'm sure it's the same with a lot of my team-mates.

"He has instilled belief and confidence in us and, in addition to the fact he's a great coach, he has also helped to educate us in his talks about the game.

"I, for one, have certainly learned many good habits from working with him and it makes a big difference at Junior level."

On his Scotland selection, Gielty added: "It is the first time I've been involved and is certainly good in terms of confidence.

"There are some more matches and training sessions coming up and it's up to me to try and prove to Keith Burgess that I'm good enough to be involved in the Umbro Cup tournament in Northern Ireland later in the season."

Tomorrow, Newtongrange make the short journey to New Dundas Park in Bonnyrigg for a tasty-looking clash against last season's Super League champions.

Star go into the game just two points behind leaders Bo'ness and Gielty says they are determined to keep putting pressure on Alan McGonigal's men to try and test them following their recent wobble.

"The manager said a few weeks ago that he felt the form of a few players had dipped a bit but hopefully we're over that now," he added.

"We certainly picked up when beating Glenrothes 5-1 and now it's a case of trying to kick on and keep pushing Bo'ness as much as we can over the next few weeks.

"Bo'ness are still the favourites for the title because, as things stand, we have to rely on other teams to take points off them.

"But, once we get into the phase of the season where teams are playing a lot of midweek games, that can be difficult for teams and we've just got to try and keep putting points on the board.

"Bo'ness have still to come to our place and we are determined to keep pushing them all the way to the end of the season."

No matter what happens between now and then, Newtongrange continue to progress under Armstrong, who has virtually brought the same group of players up from the third-tier South Division into a position where they are challenging for the title in the top flight.

Asked if they had perhaps surprised some people this season after being tipped by many to go straight back down to the Premier Division, Gielty said: "Only those who hadn't watched us before.

"We'd played against Super League teams over the past couple of seasons in Cup competitions and I think they knew we had the makings of a good side.

"We are maturing as a team all the time and we've all learned a lot from playing with experienced players like Gareth Hutchison. He's a great talker and has a work ethic that rubs off on everyone.

"He's still goes out there in every game and chases and harries younger opponents, making blocks.

"David White, who we got from Brechin, is another good talker and it's also good that the manager added David Murie to our squad recently as he's got lots of experience, too."

While Bonnyrigg are at the opposite end of the table after misfiring too often so far this season, the two teams drew 1-1 earlier in the season in a match that Gielty remembers for all the wrong reasons after being sent off.

"I felt I won the ball and actually think it was the reaction of the players and fans that got me red carded," he recalled.

"Bonnyrigg may not be going as well this season as they did when winning the title last year but they're still a good side and I think having home advantage makes them the favourites for this one. We know we'll have to go there and produce a good performance to take something from the match."