Ladbrokes League 2: Clyde, Peterhead and Elgin captains speak
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The Ladbrokes League 2 title looks likely to be a cracking contest again this season. Last year saw Montrose beat Peterhead to the title by a single point.
The Blue Toon are again among the likely contenders, as 13/8 joint-favourites for the league alongside Clyde. Meanwhile, Elgin City are dark horses at 10/1.
With the action hotting up, we talked to the captains of the league’s title hopefuls.
Clyde’s Kevin Nicoll was full of praise for the Bully Wee’s boss, saying: “Since Danny Lennon came in we have really kicked on and I think we had our best winning run since 1974.”
““Everything is all organised so well under Danny and it’s been a breath of fresh air. We’ve taken our pre-season form into the league which has been great.”
The tough-tackling defender has also been pleased with what the decorated David Goodwillie has offered.
Nicoll said: “I think Goodwillie is a nightmare for centre-halves to play against. We might be out of a game for a spell and then he pops up with a goal. He’s so deadly.”
“We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves but we want to build on the strong finish to last season.”
Peterhead skipper Paddy Boyle was is equally upbeat mood.
The former Everton youngster told us: “Missing out on the league by a point and then narrowly missing out in the play-offs shows that we were so close last season.”
“We’ve kept the majority of our players and we have added, so it doesn’t surprise me that Ladbrokes made us pre-season favourites.”
He continued: “It was disappointing the way it worked out for us but we have to feed off that and make sure we take the next step this season.”
“The manager [Jim McInally] was contemplating his position in the summer but thankfully he has stayed on. I know he’s desperate to take us up as champions.”
It’s so far so good for the Blue Toon, who won 4-0 at Albion Rovers on Saturday.
And the weekend was also good for Elgin – who saw off Edinburgh City at Borough Briggs.
Veteran captain Jon-Paul McGovern is less bolshy about his side’s chances. But he’s still quietly optimistic about the season ahead.
The 37-year-old said: “It’s a new plan from Elgin and hopefully it works for us. It’s difficult when you are a part-time team.”
“We’ve made a decent start so we just want to make sure we stay at the top end for as long as we can and I feel we can be challenging this season.”
It’s a fair old journey for the players in the Central Belt, but McGovern explained: “There are seven or eight of us and I do the driving. We usually stop at Aviemore to get some food which breaks it up. It’s not too bad once you get used to it.”
Click here for the latest Ladbrokes League 2 odds.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
