Darryl McHardy insists the perfect way to toast his new deal with Elgin City would be to deliver a play-off victory in Edinburgh tonight.
The Black and Whites are away to Edinburgh City in the second leg of their League One play-off semi-final, trailing 1-0 from Saturday’s opener at Borough Briggs.
Elgin performed superbly, but Josh Campbell’s goal on the stroke of half-time stretched the capital club’s unbeaten run against the Moray club to 10 fixtures.
Defender McHardy, who is close to 250 appearances for his home town side, is eager to drive the team on to what would be a victory against the odds.
It comes just a few days after he signed a two-year contract extension, keeping him at the club until 2023.
He said: “I had been waiting a while, but it’s great to get another two-year deal. I am just glad to get it over and done with now and I can concentrate on these play-offs.MCHARDY EXTENDS ⚽
We are delighted to announce that Darryl McHardy has signed a 2 year contract extension which will see him at the club until Summer 2023.
— Elgin City F.C. (@ElginCityFC) May 7, 2021
“We’ll go again on Tuesday and further prove (to manager Gavin Price) why he gave me a contract. If I can get a goal or a clean sheet that would do nicely.
“I’ve had a few years of bad injuries, but hopefully I am back now. I feel like I am getting fitter and fitter each week.
“I want to get another few games in so that the season doesn’t end when I am getting back to my best.”
Nothing between these sides – other than killer Campbell strike
Elgin created a number of chances against their opponents, who finished ahead of them only on goal difference after 22 games.
Before heading to the artificial surface of Ainslie Park this evening, McHardy felt it was an opportunity missed, but stressed that it’s only the midway point.
He explained: “We should be going there with at least a draw. I thought we played really well on Saturday. We thought we had a real chance, especially being at home and on the grass.
“They did get in behind us at times, but we kept the ball well and, had we taken our chances, we could have been going into the second leg with a draw or even a victory.
“However, it’s only 1-0 and we’ve still go 90 minutes left.”
It was a clearance from McHardy which took a unfortunate bounce into match-winner Campbell’s path, but the defender had to give praise to the Edinburgh forward for his impact throughout the 90 minutes.
He admitted: “I should have done a little bit better, but I covered Stephen Bronksy well, but the ball hit off a leg, took a ricochet and it was a really good finish from Josh Campbell, who was superb – a real handful.”
Confident passers
McHardy knows their opponents’ qualities, but insists that – the goal apart – there was nothing between them on Saturday.
He added: “Edinburgh are a good team. We’ve been saying that all week about them. They are confident in the way they pass the ball.
“We knew that was going to happen, and we had to change our formation a little, but it was such an even game. They got the break and scored.”
