Elgin City have momentum on their side in their efforts to claim a historic first promotion from League Two.
City have thrown themselves firmly into title contention, after claiming back-to-back victories over leaders East Fife and Bonnyrigg Rose at Borough Briggs.
Although the Black and Whites remain third, five points behind the Fifers and one adrift of Peterhead, they have a game in hand on both.
With 14 games remaining, City are gearing up for a thrilling end of season run-in.
Since entering the Scottish League setup in 2000, Elgin have remained in the bottom-tier.
They have reached the play-offs on three occasions – including under Ross Jack in 2011-12, and Gavin Price in 2020-21.
The closest they have come to achieving promotion was in 2015-16, however, when Jim Weir guided them to a second-place finish – just three points adrift of champions East Fife – only for them to lose to Clyde in the play-off semi-final.
City chairman Alan Murray, who took over last March, says the prior appointment of former Huntly boss Hale has been a key catalyst in Elgin’s upturn.
Murray said: “There has been marked progress since the start of the season.
“After the last two or three seasons, it was vitally important that we kicked on – we were getting dangerously close to club 42 (League Two’s bottom club, who are now subject to a relegation play-off).
“Since the appointment of Allan and Stefan Laird in December last year, the improvement started almost immediately.
“We were second bottom at the time.
“After that period of stagnation, it’s inevitable that a bit of negativity and pessimism is going to develop – I had been around the club as a supporter, and I knew a lot of the people around the club for a long time. I knew I had to come in and try to promote positivity and optimism.
“Allan and I had an early meeting and we were on the same wavelength, which was really important.”
Hale targeting another winning streak – but not looking beyond Stirling
Hale led the Moray outfit to an 11-match unbeaten streak at the start of the campaign – but he hopes they can save their best form for the remaining stretch.
In the meantime, however, he is looking no further than Saturday’s trip to Stirling Albion.
Hale said: “Winning breeds confidence, and it breeds momentum.
“We have been on runs before this season when we have gone unbeaten.
“The challenge for the group now is to go and do it again.
“We are at the business end of the season now, so consistency is going to be key.
“We know we are a squad that’s capable of picking up results.
“Everyone is chomping at the bit to play their part.
“When you look at our bench, it’s so much stronger now, and we still have one or two to come back, which is exciting. It bodes well.
“We’ve got to get rested up now ahead of two tricky away ties – the first one is on Saturday at Stirling, so we need to focus on the next game and not look too far ahead of ourselves.”
Hester already among goals following stunning Elgin return
A potentially significant piece of business in the title race was the return of prolific forward Kane Hester on a three-and-a-half-year deal from Montrose last month.
In a highly successful four-and-half-year initial spell at Borough Briggs, Hester netted 84 goals in 160 appearances before moving to the Gable Endies 18 months ago.
The deal was made possible by the “Allan’s Army” fan recruitment fund set up by Elgin last summer, which further highlights the strengthening connection between club and supporters.
After opening his account in his second stint with a double in the 3-0 victory over Bonnyrigg in midweek, Hester has already detected a change in atmosphere at the club.
Hester said: “After the last two results, this place is absolutely bouncing.
“The changing room vibes are amazing.
“We come out and win the game and the fans are absolutely buzzing – they stay for five or 10 minutes after the full-time whistle.
“It’s amazing to be here. I was so keen to come back to this place.
“I think the mood around the place has changed for sure. There’s a different mentality with the team, and the supporters.
“The whole club is on a wee bit of a journey – between the supporters, the team and backroom staff.”
Exciting times at Borough Briggs
While Murray is refusing to get carried away about the prospect of promotion – or better still the league title – he is keen to embrace the thrilling end of season finale which awaits at Borough Briggs.
He said: “It’s certainly a dream, but my job is to keep everybody’s feet firmly on the ground.
“Despite the fact we were confident we had recruited a fairly strong squad at the start of the season, our first objective was to stay in the league.
“In a 10-team league, if you are wanting to be steering well clear of relegation, by default you are pushing yourself into the play-off spots.
“We are more than happy. I think we have been in the top-four all season.
“The last two games were never going to decide the destiny of the league title, or where we will end up, but taking six points from those games was great.
“East Fife would have gone 14 points clear of us if they had beaten us.
“It’s certainly exciting for everybody at the club that we are up there challenging, there’s no question about that.
“As much as we are delighted about where we are sitting, there’s a long way to go.”
Conversation