Lybster leave it late to beat the drop
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JUST when you thought Lybster were down, they drag themselves back into Cafa Division One.
With one minute to go in their relegation/promotion play-off at Halkirk against Division Two runners-up Wick Thistle, they were staring into the abyss.
Having been 3-1 down, Lybster bravely battled back to level. But when Thistle took a 4-3 lead with five minutes to go, trips next year to Top Joes, High Ormlie and Keiss were beginning to be planned.
Deep into injury time, they grabbed a dramatic equaliser before going on to preserve their top-flight status in extra time with a 6-4 victory.
Goals from Billy Cairns (3), Gary Weir and Jonah Martens (2) helped to ensure Lybster will be up against the big boys next season, while Thistle’s Stevie Reid must be one of the few players to bag four goals and still end up on the losing side.
Lybster player/manager Bobby Gunn was a relieved man and insisted the players would be allowed to celebrate first before any post-mortem into the season as a whole would take place.
He said: “We were fearing the worst going into the last five minutes. Then we grab a goal in the last few seconds and we’re given another chance to save ourselves from the drop.
“With emotions pumping and adrenaline on high, it would have been so easy for the boys to still be celebrating that goal only for the opposition to run away with it in extra time.
“We had to regroup and the boys were able to reset their minds and treat extra time as a new game, so to speak.
“They retained their focus and managed to get the job done. Wick Thistle must have been deflated going into that extra period knowing they were seconds away from winning promotion.
“It was a strange game because at times it was enjoyable and yet it was torture as well – I’m sure any neutrals who were there enjoyed it.
“We had a nightmare start and went in at half-time 3-1 down. However, we knew we would have the wind with us in the second half so it was probably no surprise we came back to level at 3-3.
“The lads celebrated and while some might feel that avoiding being relegated is worth celebrating, they’ve ended the season on a high and we can hopefully bring that over to the next one. I think I’ll save the ‘we don’t want to be in this position again’ speech until next year.”
