GARTCAIRN newcomer Lee McShane last night confessed he couldn’t turn down the chance to get back into the Juniors under team boss Davie Greig.

Veteran stopper Lee – he recently turned 37 – thought of himself as all but semi-retired on account of pressing family and work commitments yet he did not hesitate to put pen-to-paper for his tenth Junior club last week following a cry for defensive help from his ex-Blantyre Vics gaffer.

And the story of his debut for the Second Division promotion hopefuls had anything but a happy ending as Gartcairn succumbed to a 3-1 home defeat on Saturday against St Anthony's for whom young striker Grant Kelly bagged a well-taken hat-trick in his first game back following a seven-week injury absence.

Hard to call it anything but a disappointing start yet the highly competitive Lee whose somewhat chequered career includes playing stints with successful Glasgow Perthshire, Rutherglen Glencairn, Ashfield and Blantyre Vics sides is refusing to rule his latest club out of the promotion reckoning.

He revealed: “Problems with fitting in two training sessions each week were affecting my fitness levels so I dropped into the amateur ranks to play alongside good friends at Glasgow Harp earlier this season.

“I turned down the chance of returning to the Shire and also rebuffed an approach from Ashfield so I was coming to terms with having finally called time on 16 years in the Junior ranks until Davie telephoned right out of the blue and asked me to join him at Gartcairn.

“He is one difficult guy to turn your back on and the decision became a lot easier to make when memories of the great times we enjoyed with Blantyre came flooding back.

“He’s a great enthusiast whose contacts in the game are second to none and given time to build his own team I’ve no doubt he will take Gartcairn up.”

The experienced centre-back felt Saturday’s performance by him and his new team-mates deserved a better reward.

He insisted: “The guys were great in helping me bed in and I thought we dominated the game and played good football for the most part only for the Ants to score three times in a 10-minute purple patch and nick the points.

“The pressure is on us to get our act together in this week’s game against Vale of Leven but I’m confident we can handle it.”

Losing his first game in charge clearly irked gaffer Greig who admitted: “Saturday gave a decent indication of the task in front of us and I have to say it will be no easy fix without everyone pulling together.

“My biggest disappointment was how we responded to falling a goal behind and I’d like to think we’ll improve in this respect as well as with our decision making against the Vale.

“I’m a great believer in the old adage that you can learn more from a defeat and hopefully that will be clearly obvious from here onwards.”

New signings McShane and Colin Marshall both featured in Gartcairn’s line-up, however former Blochairn Star full-back Gary Carmichael showed up well coming off the substitute’s bench and may get the nod to start this week.

Greggy would not confirm or deny reports of an approach to sign up former Shettleston player/manager Peter Weatherson whose striking services have been in demand ever since he and co-manager Ryan McStay parted company with the Super First Division club over the weekend.

If reports are true then Gartcairn will not be short of competition for the former Morton striker’s signature as his telephone hasn’t stopped ringing since news of his shock departure leaked out and it’s believed Super Premier Division big guns Auchinleck Talbot and Hurlford United have been in touch.

Shettleston have wasted no time in casting the net for a new manager with a club release yesterday stating: “Shettleston Juniors are seeking an enthusiastic, highly motivated person to take on the role of Football Club Manager. Please email a brief cover note detailing experience to: Tracy@Shettlestonjuniorsfootballclub.co.uk

“All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.”