Fort William forward Iain MacLellan hopes his side’s 1-0 victory over Clachnacuddin can be a turning point in the Lochaber outfit’s season.
MacLellan’s winning goal secured a derby triumph at Canal Park on Friday night, in Fort’s second successive victory over the Lilywhites this season.
Those remain Fort’s only league victories of the season, however, with the Claggan Park men still four points adrift of Lossiemouth at the foot of the table.
With seven games in hand over Lossie, MacLellan sees an opportunity to gain momentum in the coming weeks.
Striker MacLellan said: “Hopefully we can build on this. That’s the plan.
“Time will tell, but it’s a good start to the year for us.
“Hopefully we can kick on – we’ve got plenty of games at home.
“Claggan Park is a bog just now, so there’s a lot of games to catch up on.
“Hopefully now we can get a run of games and a bit of momentum which will really help us kick on.”
MacLellan, who rejoined to his hometown club earlier this season following a spell with Rothes, feels solid foundations are in place following the return of Calum MacLean for a third stint as manager.
He added: “It’s a great appointment. I didn’t really know about it but he texted me straight away asking if I was definitely going to be available.
“I texted back straight away to say I would absolutely be there, no problem.
“It was good to get our first win in a wee while.
“I probably should have had about four, so it was nice to get one at least.
“It’s always a close-run game, and both teams want to win.
“It’s our closest fixture. People say it’s not really a rivalry, but we class it as that.
“It’s the way we get ready and psyched up for the game.”
Friday’s victory was all the more poignant for MacLellan given it secured Fort the Simon Shields Memorial Cup, in honour of the striker’s former team-mate, who represented both clubs prior to his death at the age of 23 in 2011.
MacLellan added: “To get a cup as well was a nice moment too.
“It’s a nice wee touch. Calum spoke to us before the game and told us it was a huge game, for him personally as well.
“I played with Simon all those years ago and know how good a guy he was. It was good to win it for him and the club.
“I have played for the club since I was 15, so I have played for them for quite a while.
“It was a horrible thing. A few years have gone by now, but it definitely affected Calum.
“He was really upset, as were some of the players that played with him such as myself, Iain Foggo and a couple of other local guys.”
