The road from Stranraer to Madrid is not the most well travelled but James Dolan is enjoying his return to Stair Park.
The winger was a popular figure during his first spell with the Blues during the 2023/24 season before university saw him swap southern Scotland for the Spanish capital.
Now, he has returned to the club and, after scoring his first goal for the club in more than 15 months, he revealed there is still more to come.
He said: “I feel like I have come back with a new hunger.
“Obviously, the season I was there before with East Kilbride play-offs; it was quite mentally draining and physically draining.
“I got injured in the last game against East Kilbride quite badly with my ankle.
“It is a good squad, a young squad, and the club seems like it is on the up a wee bit.
“It is that wee bit more professional in terms of the number of coaches and the sports scientist we have got now as well.
“It is a good environment to be in and I am really enjoying it.”
Dolan’s final appearance in a Stranraer shirt during his first spell amounted to just 14 minutes as he was forced off through injury.
The damaged ankle ligaments meant he was stuck on the sidelines watching the remaining 106 minutes.
He said: “It was heart in mouth for 120 minutes; it was a very emotional day.
“I, unfortunately, had to come off and I wish I could have stayed on because it is 10 times worse watching it from the sidelines than being on the pitch.
“It was an amazing day and one that will be in my memory for the rest of my life.”
Soon after, Dolan, who is studying Spanish and economics at Strathclyde University, made the trip to the centre of Madrid to continue his education.
The ankle injury also kept him out of the game for several months.
He described it as “an eye-opening year” and stressed he did not regret taking on the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
He said: “After the East Kilbride game, I had torn all the ligaments down my ankle.
“I was actually injured until about Christmas time, which is probably why the year abroad was a blessing in disguise.
“Even if I had not gone for the year abroad, I would have been out for a lot of the season with the ankle injury.
“I was playing in a seven-a-side league once a week but nothing competitive, proper stuff.
“I was still keeping fit and ticking over and I had a bit more of an emphasis on gym stuff.
“I have got stronger, a bit bigger, built my physique up a bit since last time.”
Plenty has changed since that unforgettable day against East Kilbride in May 2024 with Finn Ecrepont the only player who started alongside Dolan still with the club.
The management has also changed since then with Chris Aitken now at the helm.
Dolan said: “I was in Madrid, obviously, doing my studying abroad.
“I was speaking to Gary Redhead, from the committee, on Instagram or something about the season ahead and stuff like that.
“He was asking what I was planning to do and at that point I did not know where I was going or what I was going to do.
“A couple of days later, I got a text off the gaffer asking what my plans were and it was pretty much a no brainer from there.
“Obviously, I had not worked with the coaching team before so it was a bit of a surprise in a way because I don’t think Stevie or the gaffer had seen me play at all before.”
Last meeting
Fans of both Stranraer and East Kilbride will likely need little reminder of the last meeting between the two clubs.
With the first leg finishing 2-2, it was finely balanced going into the second leg at Stair Park. A spectacular strike from Grant Gallagher gave Stranraer the lead and the home side had chances to extend their advantage.
The tie turned when ex-Stranraer striker Keir Samson pulled the Lowland League champions level and it was Stranraer’s turn to hold on.
With the game in extra time, Craig Ross bulleted home a header to put the Blues in front once again. Then, with time running out, Aidan Gilmartin picked the perfect time to score his only goal for the Blues to wrap up the win.
Stranraer: Budinauckas, McIntosh, Ecrepont (Williamson 96), Forrest, Ross, McQueen, Grant (Gilmartin 73), Gallagher, Armour (Orr 51), Hawkshaw (Edgar 97), Dolan (Lang 14).
Not used: Girvan, Fleming and Downie.
East Kilbride: Truesdale, MacDonald, Lockie (McDonald 67), Spence, Fagan (Samson 68), Ferguson, Robertson, Brown (Montagu 56), Thomson, Balde, Flanagan.
Not used: Daramola, Biggar, McGrory, Stirling, Arnott and Avci.
Last four meetings
- Stranraer 3 East Kilbride 1 (Gallagher, Ross and Gilmartin; Samson) at Stair Park on May 18, 2024
- East Kilbride 2 Stranraer 2 (Stirling and J Robertson; McIntosh and Ross) at K Park on May 11, 2024
- Stranraer 1 East Kilbride 0 (Yates) at Stair Park on July 17, 2021
- Stranraer 2 East Kilbride 1 (Gibson (Pen) and Own goal; Winter) at Stair Park on December 3, 2016
Last five games
Stranraer
- WIN v Alloa Athletic (H): 2-1 (Dolan and Turay)
- LOSS v Edinburgh City (H): 1-2 (Russell (Pen))
- LOSS v Forfar Athletic (A): 1-0
- WIN v Queen of the South (H): 1-0 (Quigg)
- DRAW v Edinburgh City (A): 0-0 (Edinburgh City win 5-3 on penalties)
East Kilbride
- WIN v Queen of the South (H): 3-1 (Dobbie x2 and Leitch)
- WIN v Elgin City (A): 0-1 (Flanagan)
- LOSS v The Spartans (H): 1-3 (Foster)
- LOSS v Inverness Caledonian Thistle (H): 2-6 (Own goal and Robertson)
- WIN v Elgin City (A): 1-4 (Leitch x2, Flanagan and Robertson)
Last time out
Stranraer
Lineup v Alloa Athletic: Lane, Ecrepont, Rough, Reid (Sharp 76), Dunne, Quigg (Hunter 71), Russell (Coll 76), Turay, Dolan (Hughes 62), O’Donnell (Edgar 71), McManus.
Not used: McKnight and Henderson.
East Kilbride
Lineup v Queen of the South: Morrison, MacKenzie, Breen, Ferguson, Fagan, Balde (Robertson 59), Spence, Leitch, Healy (Flanagan 69), Dobbie (Elliott 69), Foster.
Not used: Lyon, Sula and Owens.
Ins and outs
Stranraer
Ins: Beejay Coll (St Cadoc’s), James Dolan (Unattached), Evan Dunne (Beith Juniors), Ewan Henderson (Whitletts Victoria), Ronan Hughes (St Cadoc’s), Lewis Hunter (The Spartans), Josh Lane (Hamilton Academicals, loan), Daniel McManus (St Cadoc’s), Corey O’Donnell (Stenhousemuir), Lewis Reid (Queen’s Park, loan made permanent), Scot Rough (Beith Juniors), Tommy Sharp (Livingston), Jordan Stuart (Beith Juniors) and Sallu Turray (Partick Thistle).
Outs: Tomas Brindley (Cumnock Juniors), Adam Cummins (Irvine Meadow), Grant Gallagher (Cumnock Juniors), Matty Grant (Johnstone Burgh), Dean Hawkshaw (Hurlford United), Craig Ross (Airdrieonians), Max Guthrie (Ayr United, end of loan), Sam Kane (Queen’s Park, end of loan), Josh Lane (Hamilton Academical, end of loan) and Scott Robertson (retired).
East Kilbride
Ins: Rhys Breen (Dunfermline Athletic), Lewis Dobbie (Celtic), Keir Foster (Bo’ness United), Jack Healy (East Fife), James Lyon (Kelty Hearts), Joe Morrison (Celtic), Mouhamed Niang (Dumbarton), Ouzy See (Edinburgh City), Erik Sula (Stirling Albion), Dean Clelland (Hibernian, loan), Magnus MacKenzie (Queen’s Park) and Freddie Owens (Hibernian, loan).
Outs: Ben Ferguson (Irvine Meadow), Scott Ferguson (St Cadoc’s), Adam Livingstone (Dumbarton), Kieran MacDonald (Troon), Luke Main (Auchinleck Talbot), Ian McShane (Johnstone Burgh), Mouhamed Niang (Clyde), Broque Watson (Tranent), Matty Connelly (Motherwell, end of loan), Zander Craik (Kilmarnock, end of loan), Cammy McKinley (Stirling Albion, end of loan), Daire O’Connor (Hamilton Academical, end of loan), Calum Biggar, Chris Truesdale and David Wilson.
Five facts
1. Former Stranraer goalkeeper Harry Broun turns 22 on Saturday. The former Kilmarnock and Dumbarton shotstopper featured against Ross County and Elgin City. He would join Hurlford United on loan before making the move to Broomhill and then Cumbernauld Colts.
2. The first meeting between Stranraer and East Kilbride was a Scottish Cup clash in December 2016. Former Blue Sean Winter opened the scoring for the visitors to Stair Park before conceding a penalty, which was put away by Willie Gibson. With seconds left, Stranraer secured their place in the next round when Adam Strachan diverted Steven Bell’s header past Jacob Kean. The Stranraer side was: Belford, Robertson, Dick, Barron, Bell, Turner, McGuigan (Agnew 38), Thomson, Gibson, Malcolm (Morena 90+1), Nuttall. Not used: Watt, Sherrie, Maley and Currie.
3. Sean Winter was not the only man with a Stranraer connection in the East Kilbride squad that day. He was joined in the starting line-up by former Blues Barry Russell and Anthony Marenghi, while Martin McBride came off the bench. Also involved was Joao Victoria, who would go on to play for the Blues, and a certain Beejay Coll.
4. James Dolan’s goal against Alloa Athletic was his first for the Blues since the last day of the league season in 2024/25 when he found the net against Stenhousemuir. It also came on his 50th appearance.
5. Having played the full 90 minutes against Alloa Athletic, Scot Rough is the only member of the Stranraer squad to have played every minute this season.
Admission and coverage
Entry to K-Park is via ticket only – see EK’s Fanbase site for further details.
If you can’t make it, you can follow our live matchday updates on X (formerly Twitter).
The manager’s post-match reaction will be available on YouTube following the game.
Club 1870 subscribers get a first look at the goals on Saturday night, along with full match footage.
Extended highlights will be available via YouTube on Sunday morning, with Laurence Nelson and Brian Martin on commentary.
Photos: Bill McCandlish, MadMac Photography, Colin Poultney
