POLLOK legends Robert Downs and Stevie Aitchison won medals galore while making 458 appearances between them for the Newlandsfield club.

Their playing careers then briefly continued with Beith and Glencairn respectively and Downs also had a memorable striking stint at Arthurlie.

Now the close friends make up the management team at Bellshill Athletic, where Aitchy operates as a coach under team boss Downsy.

Asking them to pick their best-ever Junior XI sparked a heated debate before the pair opted for the following.

Goalkeeper:

Making a choice for the No 1 jersey brought it home to both men that they've played with and against numerous terrific keepers down the years.

Downsy has great memories of former Scotland Juniors shot-stopper Davie Cormack at Arthurlie while Aitchy hailed the merits of Lok keepers Ian Wilson and Kris Robertson.

The ex-defender's argument that Wilson's communication skills and sheer presence were "worth 12 points a season" gave the gloves to the current Cumbernauld goalkeeping coach.

Defenders:

The pair were every bit as spoilt for choice in their back four so it speaks volumes about the "reading the game" ability of former Auchinleck Talbot hero Craig Pettigrew - now at Stranraer - that they promptly agreed to nominate him as the sweeper in a 4-4-2 formation.

Picking a partner for Petty in central defence was harder, with frequent mentions given to Aitchy's former Lok stopper Derek Heaton s as well as Gavin Collins and Stuart "Souness" Allison, who was a stalwart for Shettleston and Arthurlie.

But it was the inspirational qualities of legendary Pollok stopper Ian Spittal that won the day. Aitchy described him as "someone who not only wins headers and tackles but would be the team's perfect captain".

Choosing full-backs was also difficult. Aitchy had played alongside Kevin O'Neil while both were former team-mates of Gary Wilson and Brian "Sniffer" McKeown.

But "old school defender" Mark McWilliams got the right-back berth with another Mark on the left - former Arthurlie ace Mark McLaughlin, who has forged an outstanding Senior career with Clyde, Hamilton, Morton and now Dumbarton.

Midfielders:

Both men were in unison in selecting the wide men for their dream team, with their former Lok team-mate Zander Ryan, currently with Beith, getting the nod on the right. Aitchy said: "He's a great professional who has consistently given 7/10 or better performances in his 18 years in the Junior ranks."

One-time Linlithgow Rose winger Mark Corcoran, who played alongside Downsy with Junior Scotland, came so close to playing on the left flank.

But the pair of firefighters plumped for the trickery and skills of ex-Kilbirnie Ladeside star turn Chris Erskine, who has since gone on to earn rave notices playing with Partick Thistle and Dundee United.

Selecting the engine room of their team provoked the greatest debate of all because of the long list of candidates for just two places. An idea of the task they faced can be had by poring over the big names who missed the cut after much agonising between Downsy and Aitchy.

They included skilful types Martin McGarvey, Andy McLay, the versatile Brian McKeown (again) and Davie Anderson plus hard-as-nails competitor Dougie Fontana.

And even the best deadball expert either man has ever seen at Junior level, former Rangers and Sweden star Robert Prytz, who, the pair agreed, "could be relied on for 12 goals a season even when he was 40".

Something special had to top this array of talent and both men felt their choice of Martin Nelson - "a veritable genius on the ball" - fitted the bill playing in tandem alongside that most prolific of midfield goalscorers, David McGeowan.

Forwards:

It was no surprise that both men instantly named Downsy's former striking partner Bryan Dingwall as first pick up front. Downs said: "He was a scoring machine and a workhorse for the team who was a far better player outside the box than many people realised."

It's no mean compliment that Gavin Friels was ruled out as being too similar to Dingy . The targetman qualities of another ex-Pollok man, Davie Turnbull, provoked much discussion.

And Aitchy had nothing but praise for the many headaches posed for him by Beith striker Kenny McLean down the years.

But someone they regarded as unplayable on his day and had (to their cost with Pollok) demonstrated he possessed the spark of genius to win games out of nothing was the former Linlithgow Rose forward Brian Carrigan. Downsy added: "He was a loose cannon at times but there was nobody better when he was on fire."

So the legends' Junior dream team is: Wilson; McWilliams, McLaughlin, Pettigrew, Spittal; Ryan, Nelson, McGeowan, Erskine; Dingwall, Carrigan. Subs: Cormack (goalkeeper), McKeown, Allison, McGarvey and McLean.