PAUL Currie has described the East of Scotland Football League (EoSFL) First Division as the “toughest” league he has ever been involved in.
The Preston Athletic player/manager was delighted to see his team pick up their first three points since the beginning of October when they knocked league leaders Kirkcaldy and Dysart off top spot on Saturday.
The 4-1 victory moved Preston to within five points of the promotion places in an increasingly congested race to go up.
Just nine points separate new league leaders Dunbar United from Leith Athletic all the way down in ninth place as the campaign approaches the halfway stage.
Currie told Courier Sport that his young side were just taking it a game at a time but were delighted to be in the promotion mix.
He said: “If you can manage to go on a wee run – two, three or four wins – then you are up the top of the league.
“The other way and you go on a run where you do not win and you will be right down amongst it.
“It is so tight. The most consistent team, the one that can try to be as consistent as possible, will be the one that wins the league.
“It will not necessarily be the team with the biggest budget or with the best players but if a team can just find a wee bit of consistency they will be the team up there at the end.”
Preston’s bid for three points was boosted on Saturday when their Fife opposition were reduced to nine men before half-time.
The Pennypit side would take control with first-half goals from Mikey Hamilton, Byron Archibald and Kyle Somers.
Currie, who was part of Jack Lynch’s Preston side that came so close to achieving promotion last term, felt that the referee got the dismissals correct and highlighted the importance of the win.
He said: “Kirkcaldy and Dysart have played a couple of games more but if they beat us they would have gone nine points clear of us.
“We won and it is down to three with us having two games in hand.
“It is a massive swing.”
Preston are also involved in the only EoSFL First Division match this weekend, with many teams focusing on cup contests.
Currie and his team travel to Lochore Welfare after the original game at the end of last month was postponed.
The hosts sit second bottom of the table and a win for Preston would move them to within two points of the promotion places.
The former Raith Rovers and Berwick Rangers midfielder described the prospect of edging closer to the top three as “massive”.
He said: “We have got a young squad and they will be full of confidence.
“It is massive what a win does for some people.
“It gives the young boys a huge amount of confidence.
“We will be confident when we go across there and obviously our aim is to get three points.”
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