ADAM NELSON has admitted he reckoned his stint as Linlithgow Rose skipper would be a one-off occasion. Now he’s dreaming of leading them to a stunning five-trophy clean sweep. The midfielder turned left-back has been a key part of the new-look defence that boss Mark Bradley rebuilt for his first full season in charge. And Nelson says going through their 44-game season unbeaten so far — with two trophies in the bag and three still to aim for — has only been added to by the fact he’s worn the armband. He took over from crocked club captain Mark Tyrell early in the campaign, and explained: “Spade was unfortunate to pick up a serious calf injury at the start of the season. We had a League Cup tie at Whitburn and the gaffer, Marvyn Wilson and Derek Fleming pulled me in and asked me to be skipper. “To be honest I thought it was going to be a one-off but I was happy to take the armband. “I think it brought the best out of me, I rose to the challenge and I’ve been lucky enough to stay skipper since then. “Spade is fit again now and he’s a versatile guy who has been coming off the bench a lot in recent games and always does a turn wherever he’s asked to play. That’s been handy with the hectic schedule over the past few weeks. “We’ve taken it in turns when it has come to lifting the trophies. When we won the East Superleague I gave him the armband to go and collect it, I did it when we won the League Cup. “We haven’t spoken about what might happen on Sunday, you don’t want to tempt fate. Maybe we will go up and lift it together but we know we’ve a big job ahead of us before then.” And Nelson is desperate to make his Emirates final bow after missing out two years ago. He added: “This is my first Scottish final and I can’t wait for it. I was with Musselburgh a couple of years back but left to join Linlithgow at the start of the 2010-11 season where they got to the final, and lost to Auchinleck at Rugby Park. “I went down for the day to cheer the lads on and it was a fanastic atmosphere outside the ground. I really enjoyed being part of that. “But I was devastated that I wasn’t playing as I was sitting there in the stand watching. I was gutted for my old team-mates that they lost, it was a tight game but Talbot just edged it in extra-time. “It’s ironic that after leaving to join Linlithgow in the hope of getting to big games like the final that my old team got there the next year! “I’ve had to wait another couple of seasons to get there myself but hopefully the wait will have been worth it on Sunday. “The league was the real priority for us this season after going six years without winning it. “Anything else we did we would take as a bonus but it couldn’t have gone much better so far. To get this far without losing and still be in with a chance of winning everything is just a dream. “We added a bit of experience at the back in John Ovenstone and Billy Gibson, and we’ve had a solid defence all season with myself and Jamie MacKenzie in there too in front of David Hay. “The consistency at the back has certainly played a part in what we’ve done so far."
Posted on: Sat, 01 Jun 2013 09:35:22 +0000
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