Carri on where you left off, says Rose boss

Dec 4 2008 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

BRIAN Fairley has hailed the return of Brian Carrigan and he reckons it could be enough to tip the Super League title balance in favour of his side.

The Rose boss brought the fans favourite back to Prestonfield after a six month stint at SPL side Hamilton and he was straight back in the starting line-up for the weekend draw with Kelty.

And Fairley admits Carrigan’s return to West Lothian has given the dressing room and the supporters a big lift.

“The prodigal son has returned,” said Fairley.

“He brings quality to the side and once he gets his match fitness back up we’ll get the benefits.

”It was good to see him and Herd playing together again and hopefully it will bring the results were looking for.”

In two glorious seasons with Linlithgow, Carrigan netted 66 goals, bagged a Super League-title clinching hat-trick and also scored a goal in the Junior Scottish Cup final.

But when he was offered a second chance at the highest level with SPL new boys Hamilton Accies, Carrigan reluctantly bid farewell to Junior football.

Unfortunately his dream move turned sour with an injury suffered in his final match of pre-season costing him the opening two months of the campaign.

And despite some top displays for Accies’ second string, Hamilton boss Billy Reid wasn’t convinced Carrigan could get fit enough to break into the first team.

But Rose boss Fairley is in no doubt he can be the difference between glory and failure and he revealed he has kept an eye on the 28-year-old’s progress since he left the club in August.

“Like any player who we have had at the club we have kept an eye on his progress and waited to see how they were doing,” admitted Fairley.

“We also kept in touch with Hamilton Accies and when they indicated that there might be a chance he could be available we made an offer.

“Once we agreed a fee with them, all we had to do was agree terms with Brian. He kept his options open for a little while but we met with him a couple of times and he decided to come back.

“It is great business for us as it has been well documented that we were lacking a little bit of quality in certain areas and he certainly brings that.”

Carrigan’s sale boosted the Rose coffers by £15,000, a record for the sale of a Junior player, but Fairley insists the money spent on his return is nowhere near that.

“We paid a fee to bring him back but it was nowhere near the £15k which we sold him for as the club is not in a position to pay those kind of fees.

“Our priority this season is to win the Super League title again and with Brian on board we hope we can get both the consistency and the points we need to go on and do so.”