SAUCHIE boss Fraser Duncan revealed some strong words at half time inspired his players to battle back to claim an important victory against Broughty Athletic.

The Wee County side had gone in at the break 2-1 down, but second half strikes from Brian Morgan and Iain Diack meant they claimed all three points and rose to seventh in the Super League table.

Duncan told Advertiser Sport: “We made a couple of errors that we shouldn't be making. We huffed and puffed for the first half but I thought that even though we were 2-1 down, it was still in our hands.

"Me and Davie told the boys at half time in no uncertain terms that they were not going to go out there in the second half and not come back with three points.

“No other outcome was going to be acceptable other than coming away with all three points and the boys reacted to that. They worked really hard and in the second half it was one way traffic.

"Morgy scored a great free kick, then Iain Diack has gone on and scored the winner. We are delighted.”

Duncan admitted that although recent results have been positive, he still believes his side are not completely safe from relegation and says his players must be prepared for another battle at St Andrews on Saturday.

He said: “We have played a lot more games than some teams and if those three or four teams win a couple of games they can catch up with us which would drag us right back into it.

"We spoke about it after the game and we all agreed that every week is going to be a battle. We just have to keep battling and picking up points. At the moment I am delighted because we are creating chances and we are scoring goals.

“St Andrews will be similar to Broughty in that it is a tough park to play on. We need to go and do the same as what we did at Broughty. We have to be direct again and take it from there.”

The manager was delighted for former Sauchie striker Conor Kelly, who played a starring role in Linlithgow Rose's brave defeat to Ross County, and he believes the youngster is a player who can go far in the game.

Duncan added: “It looks like he is playing out wide for them and he played there for us last season. It's great to see him doing well. He got man of the match so I texted him to say 'well done' and to keep working hard.

"I want to see him doing well and he is doing that. If he keeps working hard he will be in their team all the time. Davie McGlynn seems to have a lot of confidence in him which is great to see.”