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29/04/23: link to audio of James McPake`s and Dave Mackay`s post match comments

With babe in arm manager James McPake spoke after the post trophy celebrations had died down:-

`For the full football club, we knew it was going to be a day of celebrating, a day where we were going to get the trophy, but we were very proud, as we said pre-match, of the home record.

`That`s a full season undefeated. I think it`s the first time since 1933. We`re proud of little things like that. We`ll certainly enjoy tonight. It`s been great for seeing the players with their families, their friends, and all the supporters tonight. We`ll enjoy tonight, we`ll enjoy the next couple of days, and then we`ll focus on Alloa next week."

Proud to win late on and maintain that unbeaten record?

`I think it`s what that team are like. They never give up. They keep going. They go a goal down, a very good goal from Clyde, who I thought were excellent on the day, to be fair.

`They came with a real plan. Jim Duffy`s a very experienced manager, they came with a plan, they got their goal, and it worked. They sat very deep and made it hard for us to break them down, but, thankfully, in the end, we got the two goals, and the win the fans deserved.

`There was some good stuff in the first half. It`s hard, and we showed the other side of it last week when we had nine men, and we were just sitting deep, and Airdrie were struggling to break us down. It`s not easy, particularly here, when teams come and do that but, in the end, we got the three points. It was important not to lose the game, but also very important I think to win it in front of our fans, and enjoy the celebrations. We certainly need to do that."

Proud come out through the flags to receive the trophy?

`I was. It`s a day for everyone and everybody`s proud of what we`ve achieved together. We`ll certainly enjoy that but, walking out in front of a very big crowd and a happy day in football - as I say, this game`s got a habit of kicking you - but, today, we`ll certainly enjoy it."

How special is it to share it with your family as well?

`That`s what it`s all about. That`s what we do the work for, is for your families, so to be able to do that, have them out on the pitch and watching the games - they follow you everywhere -that`s what it`s all about.`

Assistant manager Dave Mackay spoke as well:-

"It was great, it was brilliant that we could do it with a win. It was nowhere near our best performance of the season, by a long shot but we scored when it matter and it was good to win it on the day we get the trophy.

"The boys have put so much into over the course of the season. I`m delighted we got that last-minute winner. You didn`t want it to be a draw or a defeat or whatever - I don`t think the boys have deserved that across the course of the season. It was some goal to win it as well. Clyde`s goal was outstanding as well, to be fair but for Lewis to do that in the last minute is brilliant - send them in happy.

"It`s good for the fans to enjoy it as well, obviously after what happened last season, the disappointment. You`ve got to enjoy the good times as well. Sometimes it`s good to get the fans on, I`ve been involved in some games like that and it makes it a bit better for the players, I think."

Unbeaten at home?

"That was something we were really keen to do. We never wanted to just shut off and say the title is done. Similar to last week at Airdrie, you could see how much we tried to hang on and make sure we didn`t concede a goal going down to nine men. It just shows the character we`ve got."

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